Difficult rescue operation of a damaged Russian oil tanker in the Black Sea. The ship was hit a week ago by a Ukrainian drone
One of the two oil tankers attacked by Ukrainian naval drones Photo: AFP / AFP / Profimedia
Bulgarian maritime authorities, together with the border police and the military navy, launched a rescue operation for a damaged vessel that entered Bulgarian territorial waters. It is one of two oil tankers in Russia's “ghost fleet” that were hit last Friday by Ukrainian drones, Reuters reports.
The Bulgarian Ministry of Transport stated that the ship entered Bulgarian territorial waters on Friday, but the rescue operation was suspended for the time being due to bad weather. The vessel has been identified as the Kairos, which was attacked by a Ukrainian drone in Turkey's Exclusive Economic Zone last week.
Along with the Virat, the Kairos was one of two sanctioned vessels that were attacked by Ukrainian naval drones while en route to the Russian port of Novorossisk to load oil for export. The Ministry of Transport stated that an explosion occurred on board the Kairos ship and then caught fire while it was on its way from Egypt to Russia.
Bulgarian maritime authorities spotted the vessel early Friday, but the vessel did not respond to attempts to contact it. After contacts with other ships in the area and with the Maritime Coordination Center in Ankara, it was confirmed that the ship had 10 people on board, who then sent an evacuation request.
Border police and a navy helicopter were sent to help but the ship anchored one nautical mile from the village of Ahtopol. The vessel was constantly watched because of the strong winds.
A specialized border police team is ready to navigate to the damaged vessel and other towing equipment is ready to intervene once the weather improves.
On Tuesday, another Russian-flagged vessel carrying sunflower oil reported an attack off the Turkish coast, but the 13 crew members were unharmed.
A Russian ship was hit in the Black Sea near Turkey
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said the “very scary” attacks on Russian-linked oil tankers in the Black Sea threatened the security of the entire region and showed that the impact of the war in Ukraine was widening.
