A Turkish-flagged tanker carrying sunflower oil reported an attack in the Black Sea, the latest incident threatening shipping safety in the region.
ANKARA: A Turkish-flagged tanker reported being attacked in the Black Sea on Tuesday while sailing from Russia to Georgia.
Turkey’s maritime affairs directorate said the Midvolga 2 “reported that it was attacked 80 nautical miles off our coast”.
The vessel was carrying sunflower oil and had 13 crew members on board.
The directorate stated the ship had “no adverse conditions among its 13 personnel” and did not request assistance.
It was heading towards the port of Sinop on Turkey’s central Black Sea coast.
This incident follows two other tankers being hit by explosions off the Turkish coast days earlier.
A Ukrainian security source claimed responsibility for those attacks, telling AFP drones had hit vessels “covertly transporting Russian oil”.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had criticised the initial drone attacks on Monday as a “worrying escalation”.
He said Turkey “cannot under any circumstances accept these attacks, which threaten the safety of navigation, the environment and lives in our exclusive economic zone”.
Erdogan warned that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine “has clearly reached a stage where it threatens the safety of navigation in the Black Sea”.
