Suspected Ukrainian drones have targeted multiple vessels carrying crude and LNG in the Black and Mediterranean Seas in recent months
A Greek-flagged oil tanker was attacked by a “missile or a drone” off the Russian Black Sea coast, authorities in Athens have stated. Numerous ships carrying Russian oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) have been targeted by suspected Ukrainian drones in recent months.
Kiev has singled out Russian oil and gas infrastructure in the Black Sea and beyond as a priority target.
On Saturday, Greek Minister of Maritime Affairs Vassilis Kikilias revealed that the Maran Homer with 24 sailors on board had been struck not far from the Russian port of Novorossiysk earlier in the day.
He relayed that the crew included ten Greeks, 13 Filipinos and a Romanian, none of whom suffered injuries in the incident, as quoted by Greek media. According to the ministry, the oil tanker had left the port of Thessaloniki before it was hit by a “missile or a drone (UAV)” 14 nautical miles off the Russian coast.
Maran Tankers Management Inc, which owns the vessel, said that the Maran Homer was expecting to “enter the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) Terminal… where it would receive a cargo of Kazakh crude oil.” The attack only caused “minor material damage to the deck and deck equipment.”
Maritime Affairs Minister Kikilias described as “unacceptable” attacks on Greek-flagged and Greek-owned civilian ships, vowing to lodge a protest “at the level of the European Council.”
Last week, the Russia-flagged Arctic Metagaz LNG tanker was struck by Ukrainian unmanned boats in the central Mediterranean off the coast of Malta. All 30 Russian crew members were rescued by Russian and Maltese emergency services.
Russian President Vladimir Putin characterized the incident as a “terrorist attack.”
In January, the Malta-flagged Matilda oil tanker was targeted by Ukrainian drones in the Black Sea, the Kazakh state-owned oil company KazMunayGas (KMG) reported. The ship had been commissioned to pick up cargo at the Russian port of Novorossiysk as part of the operations of the international Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC).
Last November, Ukrainian naval drones disrupted the work of the project, which is partially owned by US oil majors Chevron and ExxonMobil.
