The cargo ship “Razoni” loaded with Ukrainian grain unexpectedly anchored in front of the Turkish port of Mersin. This was shown by the ship tracking services vesselfinder.com and marinetraffic.com on Tuesday. Actually, the 26,000 tons of corn should be transported to the Lebanese port of Tripoli and from there, according to information from the German Press Agency, to neighboring Syria. The ship then changed course about a day before arrival.
The “Razoni” had left the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odessa a week ago – as the first ship after the end of a grain blockade by Russia. After an inspection in Istanbul, she first headed for Lebanon, but then unexpectedly declared “Order” as the new destination, i.e. an unspecified place from which a dealer then orders the loaded goods.
The “Razoni” has been anchored near the Turkish coast near Iskenderun since Saturday – and according to Marinetraffic then set off towards the port of Mersin on Tuesday night. The port operator could not immediately be reached for comment.
Destination change “somewhat strange”
The Ukrainian embassy in Lebanon announced on Monday evening, citing the freight forwarders, that the buyer had dropped out – citing a five-month waiting period. One is looking for a new recipient in Lebanon or elsewhere. The fact that the “Razoni” had changed its destination shortly before arrival was “a bit strange,” said a spokesman for Marinetraffic.
Lebanese government officials had previously told the dpa that traders probably wanted to bring part of the expected corn load from Lebanon to neighboring Syria. Exporting food to Syria is legal, but is made more difficult by Western financial sanctions against the Syrian government. Hezbollah, for example, smuggles food and medicine into Syria on a large scale and also controls most illegal border crossings.
Observers in Lebanon were also taken aback by the large shipment of corn that was rumored to be ground and fed to animals. In its severe economic and food crisis, Lebanon needs wheat, not corn, said Hani Bushali, president of the Lebanese Food Import Consortium. It also seemed possible that the planned transport to Syria was canceled – because of the great media attention for the “Razoni”.
