Black Sea Grain Initiative

The Black Sea Grain Initiative was a UN- and Turkey-brokered agreement signed in Istanbul on 22 July 2022 that opened a safe maritime corridor for Ukrainian grain and food exports from Odesa, Chornomorsk, and Pivdennyi past a wartime blockade. A Joint Coordination Centre in Istanbul inspected ships transiting the corridor. The deal moved about 33 million tonnes of grain before Russia withdrew on 17 July 2023, ending the protection. Its lapse pushed war-risk underwriters and Black Sea charterers back to vessel-by-vessel routing and elevated additional premium.