Turkey said on Saturday that an unmanned vessel reportedly attacked a tanker in Russia's shadow fleet off Turkey's Black Sea coast, after the ship was initially struck late on Friday.
Russia’s shadow fleet regularly operates in the Black Sea near Turkey © Mena Today
Turkey said on Saturday that an unmanned vessel reportedly attacked a tanker in Russia's shadow fleet off Turkey's Black Sea coast, after the ship was initially struck late on Friday.
The Turkish transport ministry said in a statement that the Virat suffered minor damage after the attack but is in a stable condition and the crew is in good health.
"The Virat, reportedly attacked by unmanned vessels some 35 miles offshore in the Black Sea, was reportedly attacked again this morning by unmanned vessels. (Virat) sustained minor damage to its starboard side above the waterline," the ministry said.
It was not immediately clear who was behind the reported attacks.
Separately, Turkish authorities continue extinguishing and cooling efforts on another Russian-bound tanker that caught fire after an explosion in the Black Sea, the ministry said.
The rescue teams have evacuated 25 crew members from the 274-meter-long Kairos following the fire, the ministry said.
On Friday, Turkey said Kairos was heading to Russia's Novorossiysk port when it reported "an external impact" causing a fire 28 nautical miles off the Turkish shore.
Both Kairos and Virat are on a list of ships subject to sanctions imposed against Russia following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, according to LSEG data.
Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu
The mayor of Izmir, Turkey's third-largest city and a bastion of its secular opposition, joined President Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AK Party (AKP) on Wednesday, giving it the mayoralty of a city it has never won at the ballot box.
Israelis will on Wednesday mark three years since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, triggering a military assault that destroyed much of Gaza, where conditions remain dire despite a year-old ceasefire that is meant to halt the war for good.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will travel to Ankara and Istanbul from October 21 to 23, his office said on Tuesday, in what will be the first dedicated bilateral visit to NATO ally Turkey by a Canadian leader.
To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.
Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.