Two tanker ships belonging to the Russian shadow fleet are burning in the Black Sea, after being hit by unknown objects. All 45 crew members have been rescued safely. Both ships were sailing in ballast.
The ships were hit shortly after one another, while they were located approximately 30 nautical miles from the Turkish Black Sea coast.
“It could be mines, drones, or underwater drones,” says Abdulkadir Uraloglu, who is Turkey’s Minister of Transport.
The two tanker ships are the 274-meter-long Kairos of 149,989 DWT, which was en route from Egypt to the Russian port city of Novorossijsk when it caught fire. The ship had 25 crew members on board, is registered in Gambia and is subject to Western sanctions.
The other tanker ship is Virat of 115,643 DWT, 250 meters long and registered in Gambia. There were 20 crew members on board the tanker which was awaiting orders. Virat, like Kairos, is on the Western sanctions list.
Both ships are Chinese-owned.
-mauh
