--- description: The crop cargo is now floating in the Mediterranean Sea, searching for a new destination after losing its buyer. title: First Crop Ship to Leave Ukraine Is Stuck Without a Buyer image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf0e9636ccabd4441/698a346f47ca385fba3b9dfe/ukraine-ship-stuck.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Ukraine](/tag/ukraine/) ## Ukraine Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # First Crop Ship to Leave Ukraine Is Stuck Without a Buyer by [Megan Durisin/Bloomberg](/author/bloomberg/) ## Megan Durisin/Bloomberg Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 8, 2022 7:55 PM CUT  Cankkale, Turkiye - Aug 04: Sierra Leone-flagged dry cargo ship Razoni, carrying a cargo of 26,527 tons of corn, leaves from Istanbul, Turkiye and passes Gallipoli Strait to reach Lebanon after inspections are completed by Representatives of Russia, Ukraine, Turkiye and the United Nations (UN) of the Joint Coordination Center (JCC) complete inspection on August 04, 2022. Cankkale, Turkiye - Aug 04: Sierra Leone-flagged dry cargo ship Razoni, carrying a cargo of 26,527 tons of corn, leaves from Istanbul, Turkiye and passes Gallipoli Strait to reach Lebanon after inspections are completed by Representatives of Russia, Ukraine, Turkiye and the United Nations (UN) of the Joint Coordination Center (JCC) complete inspection on August 04, 2022.Burak Akay—Anadolu Agency/Getty Images by [Megan Durisin/Bloomberg](/author/bloomberg/) ## Megan Durisin/Bloomberg Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 8, 2022 7:55 PM CUT The first crop cargo to depart Ukraine’s [newly opened grain ports](https://time.com/6201961/zelensky-port-graine-ukraine/ "undefined") is now floating in the Mediterranean Sea, searching for a new destination after losing its buyer. Ukraine’s embassy in Beirut on Monday [posted](https://twitter.com/UKRinLBN/status/1556603571961057281?s=20&t=j0afnu6GSKXuZ9JQIj5tfA "undefined") a picture of the vessel Razoni and said the cargo has been rejected by its final buyer in Lebanon, due to a five-month delay in its delivery. It was the first agriculture ship to leave the country’s major Black Sea ports since Russia’s invasion, loaded with about 26,500 tons of corn after a deal was recently brokered to restart exports. --- ### More from TIME --- The tumult in its journey to find a customer highlights the challenges that lie ahead for Ukrainian grain shipments to return to normal as the [war persists](https://time.com/6198872/corruption-ukraine/ "undefined"). The Razoni’s shipper is looking for a new buyer in Lebanon or elsewhere, according to the embassy. Its destination changed Sunday from Tripoli to “order,” ship-tracking data shows. **Read More:** [_Column: We Can’t Fix Inflation Without Saving Ukraine_](https://time.com/6199587/fight-inflation-save-ukraine/ "undefined") A spokeswoman at Lebanon’s economy ministry said the government isn’t involved with the shipment, as the cargo was bound for the private sector. There’s also no interference from the United Nations — which helped broker the grain-export agreement—on where vessels departing Ukraine head, as those are commercial decisions, a spokesman for its secretary-general said at a briefing Monday. Meanwhile, a smaller corn vessel from Ukraine reached its final destination in Turkey on Monday, marking the first such ship to reach its terminus, Ukraine’s infrastructure ministry said. Two others that left in the same caravan should reach their ports in about a week. About 10 vessels have departed so far in total. _With assistance from_ Volodymyr Verbyany_,_ Omar Tamo _and_ Áine Quinn_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6204412/ukraine-ship-stuck/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6204412/ukraine-ship-stuck/"},"headline":"First Crop Ship to Leave Ukraine Is Stuck Without a Buyer","datePublished":"2022-08-08T19:55:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T14:35:40.404Z","description":"The crop cargo is now floating in the Mediterranean Sea, searching for a new destination after losing its buyer.","url":"https://time.com/6204412/ukraine-ship-stuck/","keywords":["Ukraine","wire","biztech2030"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf0e9636ccabd4441/698a346f47ca385fba3b9dfe/ukraine-ship-stuck.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan Durisin/Bloomberg"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf0e9636ccabd4441/698a346f47ca385fba3b9dfe/ukraine-ship-stuck.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"First Crop Ship to Leave Ukraine Is Stuck Without a Buyer","caption":"ukraine-ship-stuck","creditText":"Burak Akay—Anadolu Agency/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/ukraine/","name":"Ukraine"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6204412/ukraine-ship-stuck/","name":"First Crop Ship to Leave Ukraine Is Stuck Without a Buyer"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The World Is One Step From 'Nuclear Annihilation,' Warns the U.N. Secretary-General","description":"Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sounded the alarm over the war in Ukraine, nuclear threats in Asia and the Middle East, and other tensions, warning that “humanity is just one misunderstanding, one miscalculation away from nuclear annihilation.”","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/iBSSeUv8/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2022-08-02T15:57:34.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/iBSSeUv8.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/6204412/ukraine-ship-stuck/","duration":"PT2M41S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/6204412/ukraine-ship-stuck/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```