Grain ship to dock in Ukraine, leave for Africa

12/8/2022 17:58

        Thrown between hope and despair, expectations were raised Friday that the first U.N. grain transport ship could soon be leaving Ukraine for Africa while more Russian shelling struck the east of the country.
        
        Closing in on the half-year mark, the war has sent food prices sky-high and left poorer countries with ever less hope they would be getting supplies from the breadbasket of Europe. On Friday, European Council President Charles Michel announced though that the first World Food Program transport for Africa was poised to depart.
        
        He said the ship would load in a Ukrainian port and depart for Ethiopia, saying "cooperation of all involved actors is key" to avoid food shortage and hunger around the world. Such a move would be a big step in the food crisis caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.
        
        The ship, Brave Commander, would take more than 23,000 metric tons of grain and export it to Ethiopia.