The Ukrainian embassy in Lebanon and a diplomatic memo reviewed by Reuters reported that Ukrainian officials requested Beirut on Thursday to prevent a Syrian-owned cargo ship from docking at the Lebanese Port of Tripoli while carrying Ukrainian grain they describe as "stolen." The Ukrainian mission stated that the ship, Phoenicia, is transporting 6,000 metric tons of corn, which they consider stolen from the port of Sevastopol on the Black Sea.
The memo sent to Lebanon's ministries of transport, finance, and economy, as well as to the customs administration, indicated that the corn "was stolen from storage units in the areas of Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, and Kherson." It added that the ship "violates international law" and expressed hope that Lebanon "would not allow the aforementioned cargo ship Phoenicia to enter Lebanese ports to sell the stolen Ukrainian grain."
Lebanon's ministries of transport and finance have not yet responded to requests for comments from Reuters. The Syrian government and the Syrian General Maritime Transport Company, the ship's owner, have not answered written inquiries. The Lebanese Minister of Economy stated that he had not received an official memo, but the embassy had sent similar notifications in the past.
Moscow has previously denied the theft of Ukrainian grain. The ship has not yet docked at the port, according to the Marine Traffic vessel tracking site and a source at the Port of Tripoli. Ukraine issued warnings last year when the Syrian-flagged ship Laodicea docked in Beirut with what Ukraine claimed were 10,000 metric tons of stolen flour and barley on board. Lebanon detained the ship but ultimately allowed it to leave, and it sailed to Syria.
The Syrian General Maritime Transport Company owns both the Phoenicia and Laodicea. The company and its ships have been subject to U.S. sanctions since 2015 for allegedly playing a role in the Syrian war. Kyiv estimates that 500,000 metric tons of what it describes as looted Ukrainian grain arrived in Syria in 2022 since the start of the Russian invasion in February of the same year, coming from various ports. The agreement that allowed the safe export of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea expired in July.
