First Ukraine grain ship will anchor off Istanbul on Tuesday -minister

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – The first ship carrying grain to leave Ukraine under a safe passage agreement will anchor off the coast of Istanbul around 1200 GMT on Tuesday for a joint inspection, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said on Monday. 

Akar was speaking in an interview with Turkey’s state-owned Anadolu news agency after the Sierra Leone-flagged ship Razoni, which is loaded with corn, left the Ukrainian port of Odesa for Lebanon. As part of the agreement, a Joint Coordination Centre was set up in Istanbul with personnel from the United Nations, Russia, Ukraine and Turkey.

(Reporting by Ali Kucukgocmen; Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Louise Heavens)