KYIV, UKRAINE — Ukraine is considering use of a new wartime Black Sea export corridor for grain shipments, Reuters reported, citing a senior agricultural official.

The ”humanitarian corridor” hugs the western coastline near Romania and Bulgaria. A Hong Kong-flagged container ship that had been stuck in Odesa since the February 2022 invasion traveled the route last week without being fired upon.

Russia opted out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative last month and has targeted port and grain infrastructure in drone attacks. Since then, Ukraine has been looking for alternatives to move its grain for export, including the Danube River.

The initiative had allowed for the safe passage of 33 million tonnes of grain after the 2022 invasion had brought exports to a halt. The end of the initiative has increased food insecurity concerns and raised global grain prices.

While only one ship has used the route, there should be movement of potentially seven or eight more ships, Denys Marchuk, deputy head of the Agrarian Council, Ukraine’s largest agribusiness organization, told national television.

“… then perhaps in the future these alternative routes will become a corridor for the movement of ships that are traveling with cargoes of grain and oilseeds,” he said.

The Financial Times reported that Kyiv was finalizing a plan with global insurers to cover grain ships traveling to and from its Black Sea ports.