Three tankers attacked by unidentified drones off Turkey's coast - media

Three tankers were attacked by unidentified drones north of the Turkish coast. The Turkish publication Türkiye Today reported this, citing the shipping agency Tribeca.

The incident occurred today, May 28, approximately 80 kilometers north of the Turkish city of Turkisheli. The drones attacked the Palau-flagged tanker James II. At the time of the attack, there were 20 crew members on board.

Two other tankers—the Altura and the Velora—were attacked in a nearby area. At the time of the attack, they were conducting a ship-to-ship cargo transfer operation.

"Coastal safety boats were dispatched to the scene. All crew members aboard all three vessels were reported in good condition," Türkiye Today quotes a Tribeca report.

At the time of publication, neither Ukraine nor the aggressor country, russia, had officially commented on this information.

Serhii Sternenko, an advisor to Ukraine’s Minister of Defense, posted a video, likely taken from social media. It shows a maritime drone in close proximity to the stern of one of the tankers. The word "Police" is visible on the drone. Another drone is visible several hundred meters away from the tanker.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, on November 28, 2025, two tankers from the “shadow fleet” caught fire in the Black Sea. At the time, media outlets reported that one of the tankers had struck a mine.

As a reminder, on June 27, 2025, an explosion occurred in the engine room of the Vilamoura tanker, part of the "shadow fleet," which was carrying at least 1 million barrels of oil in the Mediterranean Sea.