A cargo ship carrying grain from Ukraine has run aground in the Bosphorus due to a malfunction at the helm, the Turkish state news agency Anadolu reported on Thursday evening.
Shipping traffic was hampered by the incident with the 'Lady Zehma,' which was on its way to Italy with 3,000 tonnes of maize.
The Bosphorus and the Dardanelles are important straits connecting the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. More than 40,000 ships pass through the Bosphorus every year, according to Turkish authorities.
The export of agricultural products from Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea had been blocked for months by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
It resumed partially after Ukraine and Russia signed an agreement with Turkey on 22 July, following UN mediation, to allow Ukrainian grain exports from three ports.
It is estimated that more than 20 million tonnes of grain products are stored in Ukraine.
