Turkey says tanker from Russia hit in new Black Sea attack

Turkey on Tuesday said another tanker reported coming under attack in the Black Sea, with no injuries, in the third such maritime attack off the Turkish coast in four days.

It said the vessel, which was carrying "sunflower oil", was on its way from Russia to Georgia when it was struck.

Two tankers came under attack on Friday off the Turkish coast, with a Ukrainian security source telling AFP its forces had used naval drones to hit both vessels that were "covertly transporting Russian oil".

Turkey's maritime affairs directorate wrote on X that the latest incident was communicated on Tuesday morning by the Midvolga 2, which "reported that it was attacked 80 nautical miles off our coast while sailing from Russia to Georgia with a cargo of sunflower oil".

It said the vessel "had not requested assistance" and was heading towards the port of Sinop in the central area of Turkey's Black Sea coast.

The tanker had 13 crew members on board, all of whom were unharmed, it said.

The maritime website VesselFinder lists the Midvolga 2 as an "oil/chemical tanker".

It did not give an updated position for the vessel, whose location was last listed on 21 November when it was said to be travelling from the Turkish port of Samsun to Russia's Rostov-on-Don.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the drone attacks on Friday were a "worrying escalation".

"We cannot under any circumstances accept these attacks, which threaten the safety of navigation, the environment and lives in our exclusive economic zone," he said on Monday evening.

"The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has clearly reached a stage where it threatens the safety of navigation in the Black Sea," he said, adding: "We are issuing the necessary warnings to the parties concerned."

Turkey, which has sought to maintain relations with Moscow and Kyiv throughout the war, controls the Bosphorus Strait, a key passage to the Black Sea which is used to transport Ukrainian grain and Russian oil towards the Mediterranean.

Sanction-hit tankers

In Friday's incidents, two empty oil tankers, the Virat and the Kairos, each reported explosions but there were no injuries reported.

The Kairos was struck around 1500 GMT en route to the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, with rescuers evacuating its 25 crew after a fire broke out, Turkish officials said.

At the time, it was about 100 kilometres (60 miles) east of the point where the Bosphorus Strait enters the Black Sea.

The Virat was struck later. At the time, it was about 400 kilometres further east, according to VesselFinder, and it reported a second explosion in the early hours of Saturday morning but none of its 20 crew members were hurt.

Turkey's transport ministry blamed drones for both attacks on the Virat.

According to VesselFinder, each tanker was flying a Gambian flag and both were subject to Western sanctions for transporting oil from Russian ports in defiance of an embargo imposed after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Russia is the world's third-largest producer and second-biggest exporter of crude oil.

Western sanctions aim to stop Moscow from cashing in on oil sales, to limit funding for its invasion of Ukraine.

(AFP)