Turkish official says Black Sea tankers may have been hit by mines, missiles or drones

Two oil tankers described as part of Russia’s shadow fleet were set ablaze off Turkey’s Black Sea coast and may have been struck by mines, drones, or missiles, according to a senior Turkish official. The Kairos and the Virat were hit in rapid succession late Friday afternoon, prompting immediate rescue efforts. All crew members on both vessels were reported safe.

Turkish Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said rescue teams first received information suggesting that the Kairos may have hit a mine, followed shortly by reports of an explosion on the Virat.

Speaking to broadcaster NTV, he said crews had indicated that the blasts on the second vessel were also caused by external interference. He added that early possibilities included a mine, a missile, a marine vessel or a drone, though there was no definitive finding.

The OpenSanctions database, which tracks entities involved in sanctions evasion, lists both tankers as part of a shadow fleet used to bypass sanctions imposed on Russia after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Two tankers hit within an hour

Ukraine has carried out successful naval strikes against Russian shipping during the war, mainly using explosives-packed marine drones, although its operations have largely been confined to the northern Black Sea.

Turkey’s Directorate General of Maritime Affairs said the Gambian-flagged Kairos caught fire approximately 28 nautical miles, or 52 kilometres, off Kocaeli province while sailing empty toward Russia’s Novorossiysk port. Within an hour, authorities reported that the Virat had been “struck” about 35 nautical miles, or 64 kilometres, off the Turkish coast.

Heavy smoke was later observed in the Virat’s engine room. All 20 crew members were unharmed, while all 25 crew on the Kairos were safely evacuated, according to Kocaeli Governor Ilhami Aktas.

VesselFinder data showed the Virat anchored north of the Bosphorus on 4 November, near its current position, while the Kairos was last recorded on 26 November south of the Dardanelles Strait.

According to OpenSanctions, the United States sanctioned the Virat in January, followed by the European Union, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Canada. The EU sanctioned the Kairos in July, with the United Kingdom and Switzerland later implementing similar measures.

The database notes that the shadow tanker fleet continues to generate significant revenue for the Kremlin by bypassing restrictions, operating under third-country flags and using complex ownership structures.

The Virat, built in 2018, is described as using irregular and high-risk shipping practices and has previously sailed under the flags of Barbados, Comoros, Liberia and Panama. The Kairos, built in 2002, formerly operated under Panamanian, Greek and Liberian flags.

Ukraine’s military intelligence service, the GUR, notes that both ships visit Russian ports and have a record of disabling their automatic identification systems. They have also docked at ports in China, Turkey and India, among other locations.

(With agency inputs)