Turkish Oil Tanker Carrying Million Barrels Of Russian Oil Hit By Drone Strike In Black Sea; Massive Explosion Reported

A Turkish-operated oil tanker, Altura, that had departed from Russia was struck by a drone on Thursday in the Black Sea. The attack caused a massive explosion in the sea near Istanbul's Bosphorus Strait. Turkey's Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu confirmed the attack, stating that it was possibly targetted by an unmanned surface vehicle.

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Massive Explosion Reported, Crew Members Safe

In a televised interview, Uraloglu 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 centre." He stated that all 27 crew members were safe, and coastguards had been dispatched to the vessel, situated 18 nautical miles (33 km) from Bosphorus.

The 32 kilometres long Bosphorus Strait is a key commodities-shipping channel linking the Black Sea with the Marmara and Mediterranean. The incident, one of several in recent months involving Western-sanctioned vessels heading to or from Russian ports, occurred in the early hours, Uraloglu told broadcaster Kanal 24. He added that the attack likely aimed to disable the engine room in the Sierra Leone-flagged vessel that was carrying Russian oil.

Tanker Carried 1 Million Barrels Of Russian Oil

According to Reuters report, citing Ship-tracking and Refinitiv AIS data, Altura had left Russia's port of Novorossiysk with about 1 million barrels of crude oil and appeared almost fully laden. Damage was recorded on the ship’s deck and bridge. The ship is also sanctioned by the European Union (EU) and Britain.

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