A civilian merchant ship carrying grain was lightly damaged off the Ukrainian coast, Reuters reported.

According to Reuters, the vessel probably hit a floating sea mine. The Liberian-flagged bulk carrier Georgia S, loaded with wheat, was damaged at sea after it left the Pivdennyi (Southern) port in Ukraine’s Odesa Oblast, Reuters reported, citing four maritime and trade sources.

According to Reuters, an unnamed source in the Ukrainian government confirmed that the vessel had likely hit a floating sea mine. Georgia S bulk carrier headed to the Romanian port of Constanta, according to MarineTraffic, a ship tracking and maritime analytics company.

Russia maintains a de-facto blockade of Ukrainian seaports from the beginning of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. In July 2022, Russia suspended a UN-backed grain deal. The grain deal had allowed Ukraine to ship grains through a safe shipping channel.

After Russia withdrew from the grain deal, the Russian Armed Forces launched missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian ports, targeting port infrastructure and grain terminals in the Odesa Oblast (southern Ukraine) every week.

On 4 September 2022, British intelligence suggested Russia may use sea mines in the approach to Ukrainian ports to target civilian shipping in the Black Sea, blaming Ukraine for any attacks.

Ukraine has set up a temporary “humanitarian corridor” for cargo vessels, and around ten ships have used the corridor to enter and leave Ukrainian Black Sea ports since August 2023.

Since August, over 100 ships have sailed through the Ukrainian Black Sea “humanitarian corridor,” and 3.7 million tons of food and goods have been delivered through this route so far.

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