A second merchant ship leaves Ukraine’s port of Odesa following Russia’s exit from grain deal

A second container ship has left port through a temporary Black Sea corridor established by Ukraine’s government after Russia halted a wartime agreement aimed at ensuring safe grain exports. The Primus, a Liberian-flagged bulk carrier, left the port of Odesa on Saturday morning and was steaming south toward Bulgaria. Its departure came 10 days after the launch of another container ship that had been docked in Odesa since before Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor, the Hong Kong-flagged Joseph Schulte. Analysts had surmised that China’s political closeness to Russia might have eased that ship’s passage and raised doubts whether vessels registered elsewhere would follow.