Canada helps Ukraine with cargo ships

Support to enable the transport of Ukrainian wheat

The Canadian government plans to help Ukraine export its stranded wheat to countries where it is urgently needed, its foreign minister said on Monday. Russia has blockaded Ukrainian seaports, stranding dozens of foreign-flagged ships and about 20 million tonnes of Ukrainian grain. This agricultural cargo - primarily wheat - is essential for the food supply of many developing countries, especially in the Middle East and Africa.

As the Ukrainian coast of the Sea of Azov is under Russian control and the harbours on the Black Sea are under siege, the options for transporting the grain to export markets are limited. The closest alternative is the Romanian port of Constanta, which can be reached by land and inland waterway; however, the potential volume is limited by numerous bottlenecks. The EU has pushed ahead with the establishment of "solidarity lanes" to speed up the cross-border transport of grain shipments by road and rail and facilitate onward delivery to EU ports for export.

Canada is joining these efforts and plans to send cargo ships to pick up Ukrainian wheat in Romania and other Black Sea countries and then deliver the food to where it is needed most - countries like Egypt and Lebanon, which rely heavily on Ukrainian wheat fields for food. Russia's war has triggered a "potential food crisis". The director of the World Food Programme, David Beasley, has warned of an impending humanitarian catastrophe if Ukrainian wheat remains in storage. If the blockade is not lifted, there will be no room in the silos for the next harvest in July/August, so there is a risk that millions of tonnes of grain will be wasted. Meanwhile, the World Food Programme (WFP) is already cutting food rations for desperate populations in Syria, Yemen and elsewhere because the cost of wheat has skyrocketed.

Source: maritime executive