November 28, 2025, 10:10 p.mNovember 28, 2025, 10:10 p.m
The cause of the fires is still unclear.image: sc/x.com
According to Turkish authorities, fire broke out on board two oil tankers in the Black Sea for unknown reasons. The empty tanker “Kairos” caught fire 28 nautical miles off the Turkish coast due to “external causes,” the Turkish maritime authority DGM said on Friday. All 25 crew members are doing well. The ship was on its way to the Russian port of Novorossiysk.
A second oil tanker, the “Virat,” reported being “hit,” the DGM said. She did not provide any information about what type of hit it was. All 20 crew members of the “Virat” are safe. According to the website Vesselfinder, both oil tankers flew the Gambian flag.
Various news portals report that the tankers are ships from the Russian “shadow fleet,” which transports oil out of the country for Russia under international embargoes. Both ships had recently passed the Bosporus.
The Turkish authorities initially did not provide any further information about the causes of the fire. However, since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, sea mines have repeatedly been discovered and destroyed in the Black Sea. The mines used by armed forces to protect their coasts have drifted away in recent years, particularly due to storms.
In view of the danger posed by sea mines, Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania, three NATO countries located on the Black Sea, set up a naval unit in 2024 to combat mines in the waters. (cpf/sda/afp)