A team of inspectors in Türkiye began checking an empty cargo ship on Friday before it heads off to collect grain from the Ukrainian port of Chornomorsk under a deal to restart Ukrainian grain exports, the Turkish Ministry of National Defense has revealed.

The ministry posted photos on Twitter that show the inspection team boarding a boat to head out to the Barbados-flagged general cargo ship Fulmar S, which is at anchor in the Black Sea, just north of Istanbul's Bosphorus Strait.

Vessels that will carry Ukrainian grain are being inspected by Russian, Ukrainian, Turkish and U.N. personnel working at a Joint Coordination Centre in Istanbul.