A Turkish-operated oil tanker was attacked early Thursday in the Black Sea, possibly by an unmanned surface vehicle, Turkey’s Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu said.
“I can say that a foreign-flagged ship operated by a Turkish company, which had loaded crude oil from Russia, reported an explosion in its engine room after midnight to our emergency call center,” the minister said in a televised interview.
“We believe that the engine room was specifically targeted. We think the attack was not carried out by a drone, but by an unmanned surface vehicle at water level.”
The minister would not specify if the attack on the Sierra Leone-flagged tanker happened in Turkish waters.
Private maritime security company Vanguard Tech said the tanker, carrying approximately 140,000 tons of crude oil, reportedly suffered an explosion approximately 15 nautical miles north of the Bosporus while inbound to the strait.
The vessel was sailing from Novorossiysk Port, it added.
The 27 crew members, all Turkish nationals, were reported safe, with no casualties reported, Uraloğlu added.
“It appears to be an externally caused explosion, particularly directed at the engine room, with the aim of completely disabling the ship,” Uraloğlu said.
“We have sent the necessary units to the scene and are monitoring the situation,” he added.
The vessel is under sanctions from several countries, including the UK, Ukraine and Switzerland, for involvement in the transport of Russian-origin oil.
In December Turkey witnessed a series of security incidents linked to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan warning against the Black Sea becoming an “area of confrontation” between the warring parties.
Turkey, whose northern shore faces Ukraine and annexed Crimea, has maintained close ties with both Kyiv and Moscow since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
© Agence France-Presse