Shipping arrangements still to be worked out for Ukraine corridor – Lloyd’s market official

Key arrangements including procedures for ships still need to be worked out before empty vessels can come in and pick up cargoes from Ukraine using the new grains corridor, a senior London marine insurance market official said on Monday. The vessel had been inside Ukraine for some months. “It remains a case of steady but cautious progress,” Roberts said of the Razoni departure.

Key arrangements including procedures for ships still need to be worked out before empty vessels can come in and pick up cargoes from Ukraine using the new grains corridor, a senior London marine insurance market official said on Monday. "The standard operating procedures for vessels still need to be worked out and there are issues about crewing that still need to be resolved," Neil Roberts, head of marine and aviation with the Lloyd’s Market Association, told Reuters.

"There is some way to go," said Roberts, whose association represents the interests of all underwriting businesses in the Lloyd’s of London insurance market. The Sierra Leone-flagged ship Razoni carrying grain left the Ukrainian port of Odesa for Lebanon earlier on Monday under a safe passage agreement, Ukrainian and Turkish officials said, the first departure since the Russian invasion blocked shipping through the Black Sea five months ago. The vessel had been inside Ukraine for some months.

“It remains a case of steady but cautious progress,” Roberts said of the Razoni departure.