Two incidents involving the russian "shadow fleet" have been recorded in the Black Sea. Two oil tankers caught fire while sailing along the Turkish coast.
Turkey said a fire had suddenly broken out on the Kairos tanker. The 25-person crew was not injured, and rescue forces were sent to the vessel, Bloomberg reported.
Port agents believe the Kairos may have struck a mine. The vessel was heading empty towards Novorossiysk for another load of Urals oil.
A second tanker, the Virat, also sustained damage in the western Black Sea. It had been idle for most of the year after being hit by US and EU sanctions.
Both vessels are on the list of sanctioned carriers of russian oil. At the time of the incidents, they were empty.
Kairos is a Suezmax tanker under the Gambian flag, measuring 274×48 m. The ship is managed by Alafia Trading Ltd, registered in Shanghai.
According to Bloomberg, Kairos was returning from India and heading to a russian port. Since the beginning of the war, there has been a constant risk of ships being blown up by mines in the Black Sea.
The Turkish Maritime Administration clarified that the fire on Kairos broke out 28 miles from the coast. The ship remains at risk of sinking.
OSINT sources consider the possibility of an attack by naval drones as one of the versions. There is currently no official confirmation of this.
The Bosphorus remains open to shipping. Turkey continues to monitor and coordinate rescue operations in the area of the events.
Who we are: About us, Contacts. How we write news and our principles: Editorial code. We did our best. If you found this valuable – please support us.
To request a correction, please send an email.