Grain ship from Ukraine grounded in Istanbul, halting traffic

Adds details on export deal, situation of ship

ISTANBUL, Sept 1 (Reuters) – A cargo vessel carrying more than 3,000 tonnes (3,307 tons) of corn from Ukraine drifted aground in Istanbul on Thursday, halting shipping on Turkey’s Bosphorus straitin the first such incident since a United Nations-brokered export deal in July.

The Istanbul governor’s office and a shipping firm said the 173-meter (567.59 ft) Lady Zehma was safely grounded and anchored after a rudder failure around 1800 GMT.

No one was hurt and Coast Guards were attending, the office said. Its bow was about 150 meters from shore in the busy Bebek neighbourhood, according to a witness and Refinitiv Eikon data.

Ukraine’s grain exports slumped after Russia invaded the country on Feb. 24 and blockaded its Black Sea ports, driving up global food prices and prompting fears of shortages in Africa and the Middle East.

Three ports were unblocked under the deal signed on July 22 by Moscow and Kyiv, and brokered by the U.N. and Ankara.

The Istanbul-based Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) – which oversees the agreement and includes U.N., Russian, Ukrainian and Turkish officials – told Reuters the ship “got stranded during her passage from the strait (and) an emergency boarding operation is underway” by Turkish authorities.

Earlier this week the JCC said the Lady Zehma was cleared to depart Ukraine’s Chornomorsk port for Ravenna, Italy, with 3,000 tonnes of corn. Turkey’s Tribeca shipping firm said it contained 30,274 tonnes of corn.

As of Wednesday, some 1.55 million tonnes of grain and other foodstuffs had been exported from Ukraine under the deal, while 139 inbound and outbound voyages had been enabled, the JCC said.

Such incidents are rare on the picturesque Bosphorus, which divides Turkey’s largest city and connects the Black Sea to the Marmara Sea and beyond to the Mediterannean.

(Reporting by Can Sezer and Jonathan Spicer; Editing by Mark Porter and Richard Chang)

((jonathan.spicer@reuters.com; Reuters Messaging: jonathan.spicer.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net @jonathanspicer))

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