By Gabriele Barbati withAssociated Press
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Turkish authorities reported on Friday that two oil tankers linked to Russia’s notorious “Shadow Fleet”, which is on an international sanctions list, caught fire in the Black Sea near the Bosphorus and launched a massive rescue operation.
The first ship, the Gambian-flagged Kairos, was en route from Egypt to the Russian port of Novorossiysk without cargo when it exploded and caught fire about 28 nautical miles off the Turkish coast in Kocaeli province, Turkey’s Ministry of Transport reported.
Shortly after, a second tanker, Virat, was reported to have been “collided” in another area of ββthe Black Sea, about 35 nautical miles from the Turkish coast.
Turkish maritime authorities said the first incident was reportedly caused by an “external impact,” but did not provide further details about the cause of the attack.
The situation remains unclear, and authorities have not ruled out the possibility that the explosion was caused by a mine or a targeted attack. In recent years, there have been incidents in which ships have collided with drifting mines in the Black Sea.
Pending further verification, maritime authorities are maintaining a high degree of vigilance and monitoring the situation to prevent further incidents and ensure the safety of shipping traffic in the Bosphorus area.
History of sanctions against Kairos and Virat
Due to the prompt intervention of the Coast Guard and rescue teams, the crews of both vessels were rescued. There were 25 people on board Kairos and 20 people on Virat.
The ships are on a list of international sanctions following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and have been identified as some of the older cargo ships used by Moscow to circumvent restrictions on Russian crude oil.
The US sanctioned Virat in January this year, followed by the EU, Switzerland, UK and Canada, according to the website OpenSanctions.
The EU sanctioned Kairos in July, followed by the UK and Switzerland.
βShadow oil tanker fleets continue to provide billions of dollars in revenue for the Kremlin by evading sanctions, disguising operations under third-country flags, using complex schemes to disguise ownership, and posing significant environmental threats,β Open Sanctions wrote.
The Virat, built in 2018, has previously flown the flags of Barbados, Comoros, Liberia and Panama, while the Kairos, built in 2002, has flown the flags of Panama, Greece and Liberia.
Friday’s incident raised serious concerns about potential environmental impacts and transport safety in the Black Sea, which is already considered high risk due to years of war and the presence of weapons from past conflicts.