A Turkish-operated oil tanker was attacked early on March 26 in the Black Sea, possibly by an unmanned surface vehicle, the Turkish Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu has announced.
"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 on March 26.
"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, but local media reported that it took place less than 30 kilometers from the Bosphorus strait.
"It appears to be an externally caused explosion, particularly directed at the engine room, with the aim of completely disabling the ship," Uraloğlu said.
All 27 crew members were safe, the minister said, adding that authorities have sent the necessary units to the scene and are monitoring the situation.
Ship-tracking and Refinitiv AIS data indicated the vessel had departed Russia’s Novorossiysk port carrying around 1 million barrels of crude and was nearly fully loaded.
According to Refinitiv, the tanker’s registered owner is China-based Sea Grace Shipping Ltd, while its manager is Türkiye-based Pergamon Denizcilik.
The vessel is under sanctions from both the European Union and Britain.
The Turkish Defense Ministry said on March 26 it was closely monitoring risks in the Black Sea linked to drones, which have been widely used in the Russia-Ukraine war. The ministry warned that drones could lose control or mobility and drift toward the Turkish coast.
“We are in contact with our counterparts and issuing necessary warnings to maintain navigational safety in the Black Sea,” officials said at a weekly briefing, without directly referencing the March 26 drone strike.
In December, Türkiye witnessed a series of security incidents linked to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warning against the Black Sea becoming an "area of confrontation" between the warring parties.
