Second Attack on Black Sea Tanker Amid Ongoing Maritime Tensions

Turkey’s Ministry of Transport reported that one of the two oil tankers, which had already been hit by explosions in the Black Sea late Friday, faced another attack early Saturday. This second incident was attributed to an unmanned sea vehicle.

According to a statement on X, the tanker named Virat, previously confirmed to have come under fire from unmanned maritime craft about 35 nautical miles from the Black Sea coast, was struck again early this morning. The ministry noted that the tanker only incurred «minor damage» on its starboard side, with all 20 crew members unharmed.

On Friday night, the Transport Ministry indicated that both empty oil tankers, the Virat and the Kairos, had experienced explosions but reported no casualties, affirming that they had been damaged in Turkish territorial waters without disclosing the cause of the explosions.

This announcement marked the first official acknowledgment of a drone attack on the Virat.

The Kairos was reported to be on its way to the Russian port of Novorossiysk, where a significant Russian oil terminal suspended its operations after a naval drone strike occurred early Saturday, according to the terminal’s managing consortium.

The terminal, which suffered «significant damage,» functions as a major route for Kazakh oil, as reported by the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), which did not assign blame for the incident.

A Ukrainian source later took responsibility for the strikes on both oil tankers. An individual from Ukraine’s SBU security service claimed to AFP that «modernized Sea Baby naval drones successfully targeted the vessels.»

The explosion impacted the Kairos around 15:00 GMT on Friday, leading to the evacuation of its 25 crew members following a fire outbreak. Turkish officials indicated that at the time of the explosion, the vessel was approximately 100 kilometers east of the entrance of the Bosphorus Strait into the Black Sea.

Subsequently, the Virat was struck, located about 400 kilometers further east according to the VesselFinder tracking service.

Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu mentioned that both vessels had experienced “explosions,” speaking to private NTV television late Friday that the tankers might have been hit by a mine, a rocket, or a drone.

“An external impact suggests the ship could have been affected by a mine, a rocket, or similar projectiles, or possibly a drone or an unmanned underwater vehicle. These are the primary considerations,” he explained.

In a post on X, the Turkish Maritime Affairs Directorate stated that the Kairos was «en route to Russia’s Novorossiysk» when it reported an «external impact that caused a fire 28 nautical miles from» the Turkish coastline.

The directorate shared striking images of flames and thick black smoke billowing from the vessel, with the fire still raging about five hours later.

The directorate later confirmed that the Virat had reported «being hit approximately 35 nautical miles offshore,» stating that all 20 crewmembers were safe, though heavy smoke was detected in the engine room without a request for evacuation being made.

Both tankers, which are registered under the Gambian flag as per the VesselFinder website, are subject to Western sanctions for transporting oil from Russian ports, violating an embargo imposed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Since the onset of the conflict, both Ukraine and Russia have deployed sea mines to safeguard their coastlines. Although many mines have been located and destroyed in the Black Sea, others have drifted, particularly due to storms, posing risks to shipping safety.

In response, NATO members Turkey, Bulgaria, and Romania, all bordering the Black Sea, established the Mine Countermeasures Naval Group (MCM Black Sea) in 2024 to oversee demining operations in the area.