The first cargo of grain to leave Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odessa since Russia’s invasion began passed inspection by the Joint Coordination Center (JCC) in Istanbul on Wednesday, Ukrainian and Turkish officials said. Turkey’s Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that an inspection of the M/V Razoni would be carried out by a delegation consisting of representatives of Turkey, the Russian Federation, Ukraine and the United Nations. “The RAZONI ship has passed the inspection of the Joint Coordination Center and is ready to proceed to its destination,” Ukraine’s Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on Facebook. The Turkish Defense Ministry said in a tweet that the inspection of the mission had been completed and that the ship would head next to Lebanon. The three-hour inspection included an assessment of the ship’s crew and cargo and recording “valuable information about the ship’s journey” along the Black Sea corridor agreed by the JCC, according to a statement from the center. “The JCC will use this voyage in its ongoing work on coordination processes and procedures to enable the continued safe passage of merchant ships through the Black Sea under the Initiative,” the statement said. Three ports in Ukraine are scheduled to resume exporting millions of tons of wheat, corn and other crops, the statement added. The M/V Razoni departed the port of Odessa on Monday, carrying more than 26,000 tons of corn. After a delay due to bad weather, it arrived in Istanbul on Tuesday afternoon. The ship is next heading to the port of Tripoli in Lebanon. The inspection team boards the vessel, which was carrying a cargo of more than 26,000 tonnes of corn, in the Black Sea on Wednesday. (Ali Atmaca/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) “This is the first ship to pass through the ‘grain corridor’ agreed with the UN and Turkey. Thanks to the Armed Forces of Ukraine and port services, RAZONI arrived safely in the Bosphorus, where it was inspected by representatives of the JCC,” Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on Facebook. “Using RAZONI as an example, all necessary control and coordination measures between Ukraine and the signatory partners — the UN and Turkey — are being finalized and worked out,” Kubrakov said. He added that 17 ships are loaded and awaiting permission to leave Ukraine, and that applications are being accepted for new ships to enter Ukrainian ports to load agricultural products. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the departure of the first grain ship from the Black Sea “significant” but noted that it is “only a first step and continued implementation of the July 21 agreement facilitated by the UN is necessary to strengthen food security around the world.” “Russia must fulfill its commitments, including by facilitating unhindered exports of agricultural products from Black Sea ports,” Blinken said in a statement on Wednesday. “Russia must also end its attacks that are rendering agricultural land in Ukraine useless and destroying agricultural infrastructure,” he continued. “As long as Russia continues its aggression, the Ukrainian people and the world’s most vulnerable will continue to suffer the consequences.” CNN’s Jennifer Hansler contributed reporting to this post.