ALBAWABA- Four crew members were injured after drones struck a Turkish-flagged cargo vessel in the Black Sea on Monday, with the ship's captain attributing the attack to Ukraine amid escalating maritime hostilities linked to the Russia-Ukraine war.
The Ro-Ro cargo ship NADHEZNA, carrying fruit and vegetables from the Turkish port of Samsun to the Russian port of Novorossiysk, was attacked about 30 nautical miles from its destination at around 4:30 p.m. local time.
Captain Yalçın Şahin said six or seven drones targeted the vessel, triggering a fire on board. All crew members survived the attack, but four sailors were injured, including three Turkish nationals. The crew managed to begin extinguishing the blaze while Russian naval vessels were initially unable to reach the ship because of continued drone activity in the area.
The attack comes amid an intensifying maritime campaign in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, with commercial shipping increasingly caught in the crossfire.
Ukraine has stepped up strikes on vessels it says support Russia's military logistics or energy exports, targeting Russian-flagged and Russia-bound ships in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, as well as conducting longer-range operations.
In late July, Ukrainian forces struck an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea near a Russian port, killing one crew member and injuring several others. Kyiv said the ship was transporting military-related cargo between Iran and Russia, while Tehran rejected the claim, describing it as a civilian vessel and condemning the attack.
Russia and Ukraine have both targeted commercial shipping during the war. Russian strikes on vessels operating near Ukrainian Black Sea ports have disrupted grain exports, increased maritime insurance costs and periodically halted traffic along Ukraine's shipping corridor. In response, Ukraine has used naval drones and other long-range systems to attack Russian ports, oil facilities and vessels it considers part of Moscow's wartime logistics network.
Turkey, which maintains relations with both Kyiv and Moscow while serving as a key Black Sea maritime hub, has seen several Turkish or Turkey-linked vessels affected by the conflict in recent months.
Monday's attack on a civilian cargo ship transporting agricultural goods highlights the growing risks facing neutral commercial shipping as the conflict increasingly extends across the Black Sea.
