Barley from farms across the north east of Scotland is on its way to Libya after Openfield agreed a sale for 16,500 tonnes to the north African state.
 
More than 500 deliveries tipped direct to vessel over a six-day period with extra cranes brought in to manage the loading and ensure the vessel departed on time.
 
“This is the largest ever single barley export from Aberdeen and it is significant because it is the ability to handle vessels of this size and bigger that give access to the global market,” said Openfield head of exports David Doyle.
 
“With Europe awash with grain from the 2014 harvest having the facilities to handle larger vessels is the only way to move the surplus and protect value for our members,” he added.
 
Passage to Libya aboard the MV Selamet is expected to take 12 days.