ANKARA, Turkiye: Turkiye on Tuesday said another tanker had reported being hit in the Black Sea, in the third 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.
Moscow said it had been informed about “a drone attack” on a Russian vessel in the Black Sea but did not say who was behind it.
Two tankers were attacked on Friday off the Turkish coast, with a Ukrainian security source, cited by AFP, said that its forces had used naval drones to hit the vessels that were “covertly transporting Russian oil”.
It denied any involvement with Tuesday’s incident, according to AFP.
Turkiye’s maritime affairs directorate said the Midvolga 2 “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 Sinop on Turkiye’s Black Sea coast and that all 13 crew members were unharmed.
The maritime website VesselFinder lists the Midvolga 2 as an “oil/chemical tanker”.
It said on November 21 that the vessel was travelling from the Turkish port of Samsun to Russia’s Rostov-on-Don.
Russia’s maritime and river transport agency, Rosmorrechflot, told RIA Novosti news agency it had been informed about “a drone attack” on the Midvolga 2 in the Black Sea, which caused “minor damage” but no injuries.
Ukraine questioned what the vessel was doing in the area.
“Ukraine has nothing to do with this incident, and we officially refute any allegations of such kind made by Russian propaganda,” foreign ministry spokesman Georgii Tykhyi wrote on X.
‘A worrying escalation’
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that Ukraine’s Black Sea drone attacks 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.
“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.”
Turkiye, 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.
On Friday, the Virat and the Kairos, two empty oil tankers both flying a Gambian flag, were hit by explosions that caused no injuries.
The Kairos was struck en route to the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, with rescuers evacuating its 25 crew. At the time, it was about 100 kilometres (60 miles) east of the point where the Bosphorus enters the Black Sea.
The Virat was struck later. It was about 400 kilometres further east, according to VesselFinder. It reported a second explosion in the early hours of Saturday but none of its 20 crew were hurt.
