Bulgarian ship "Rozhen" will be the first to export Ukrainian grain from Chornomorsk

The Bulgarian bulk carrier Rozhen will be the first vessel to carry Ukrainian grain from Chornomorsk to the Romanian port of Sulina along the grain corridor agreed between Ukraine, Turkey and Russia.

The director of the Shipping Company BMF, Captain Alexander Kalchev, confirmed that the vessel is ready to go, and will travel to Istanbul with a reduced crew and at the Bosphorus the ship will be fully manned. The management of BMF has permission from the flag administration to carry out the first part of the voyage with a smaller crew.

A corridor is currently being organised and the mines are being cleaned, the ship is expected to leave in the coming days, Captain Kalchev added. "The Rozhen will travel along the designated corridor from Chornomorsk to Sulina and from there to Istanbul, where it will undergo cargo inspection and continue on a pre-agreed course.

According to information from the specialised Ukrainian shipping magazine USM, the Bulgarian ship will transport 40,000 tonnes of corn to the UK. It should be reminded that the "Rozhen" entered the port of Chornomorsk on February 21 and has been blocked there since then, and only in April the Shipping Company BMF managed to change the crew. Now the ship "Rozhen" will become the first to leave the Ukrainian ports, thanks to the Istanbul Agreement.