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A foreign-flagged, Turkish-operated crude oil tanker was targeted on March 26 in the Black Sea near the shores of the city of Istanbul, Turkey’s transport minister said, adding that no casualties were reported among the crew.
Abdulkadir Uraloglu told broadcaster Kanal 24 that the attack occurred in the early morning hours, identifying the tanker as the Altura.
Ship-tracking and Refinitiv AIS data showed the Altura left the Russian port of Novorossiysk with about one million barrels of crude oil prior to the attack. The tanker is sanctioned by the European Union and the United Kingdom.
“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.
“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,” he added
The minister noted that “all 27 crew were safe,” adding that the coastguard had been dispatched to the tanker, which was about 33 kilometers from the Bosphorus, a key commodities-shipping channel linking the Black Sea with the Marmara and Mediterranean.
The attack on the Altura was one of several in recent months involving vessels sanctioned by the West heading to or from ports in Russia.
Ukraine was blamed for previous incidents, including the March 3 attack on the Russian liquified natural gas (LNG) tanker Arctic Metagaz in the Mediterranean.
The attack in question took place in close proximity to Malta’s territorial waters. The tanker was carrying 100,000 cubic meters of LNG. It lost propulsion and was left without power, as a fire and a gas explosion also occurred. Two sailors were injured as the entire 30-member crew survived.
The crew of the damaged tanker drifted in the Mediterranean in a rescue boat for 15 hours following the attack, according to captain Andrey Zelensky, which said that assistance came from Russian, Maltese, and Libyan rescue teams. Earlier this week, the Libyan Coast Guard began towing the tanker, which is still loaded with LNG, closer to the country’s western coast.
In addition to these attacks, several sanctions tankers linked to Russia were seized by EU members in the last few months.
Responding to recent attacks and raids, Russia’s Maritime Board, chaired by Presidential Aide Nikolay Patrushev, on March 25 announced additional measures to safeguard vessels registered under the Russian flag or departing from Russian ports.
Ship owners working with Russia have been given detailed instructions to seek assistance from the Navy, Patrushev said, adding that monitoring of cargo ships carrying freight for Russia has been tightened.
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a news briefing that Moscow will use all available instruments to guarantee respect for the principle of freedom of navigation in response to EU raids at sea.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced on the very same day that he had given the military permission to board and detain Russian ships his government alleges are part of a network of vessels that enables Moscow to export oil despite Western sanctions.
This escalation by Ukraine and its allies, the UK in particular, comes as the global energy market is facing a crisis caused by the American-Israeli war on Iran, which resulted in the de facto closure of the strategic Hormuz Strait — responsible for fifth of the world’s total oil and LNG shipments.
The EU and the UK have been among the most affected by spikes in energy prices. Recent attacks and raids targeting tankers carrying Russian oil and LNG will drive the prices even higher.
Still, the government of these countries appears to be willing to risk more economic troubles just to keep pressure on Russia and prevent it from benefiting from rising energy prices.
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