U.N. ship to deliver Ukrainian wheat to Somalia -ministry

KYIV (Reuters) – A fifth vessel chartered by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), NEW ISLAND, has arrived at Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Chornomorsk and will deliver Ukrainian wheat to Somalia, Ukraine’s infrastructure ministry said on Sunday.

Ukraine has already shipped wheat to Ethiopia, Yemen and Afghanistan under the programme.

Ukrainian grain exports have slumped since the start of the war because its Black Sea ports – a key route for shipments – were closed off, driving up global food prices and prompting fears of shortages in Africa and the Middle East.

Three Black Sea ports were unblocked at the end of July under a deal between Moscow and Kyiv, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey.

The ministry also said on Sunday that a total of 5.8 million tonnes of agricultural products had so far left Ukrainian ports under the U.N.-brokered deal. That includes some 114,700 tonnes which left Ukraine’s Black Sea ports on eight ships on Sunday.

(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Gareth Jones)