The exact cause of each of the explosions was unclear but Turkey’s transport minister said he had been informed they were the result of “external impact.”
“It can be a mine or a drone or a sea drone. These are all possible,” Abdulkadir Uraloglu said in a television interview.
The two vessels, which were both sailing under the Gambian flag, belong to the so-called shadow fleet of tankers that Moscow has tapped to sidestep Western measures that restrict its ability to ship and insure its oil. Several hundred vessels are estimated to belong to this opaque shipping network, many of which are aging tankers with patchy safety records and often only limited insurance. Kairos is under European Union and U.K. sanctions while Virat has been blacklisted by the U.S. and the EU.
Turkish authorities said that both tankers weren’t carrying oil at the time and there was no risk of them causing pollution.
The incident is the latest in a string of mysterious blasts hitting Russia-linked vessels this year. In one case in July, an explosion on the Eco Wizard tanker led to a leak of ammonia.
In most cases, the causes of the blasts haven’t been identified. In recent years, ships in the Black Sea have hit naval mines, some of which have even been found drifting.
Some analysts have pointed to possible Ukrainian involvement because of the tankers’ links to Russia’s shadow fleet. Kyiv has declined to comment. Following an explosion on the Vilamoura tanker in June, Ukraine’s military intelligence reported on the incident without commenting further.
Ukraine has developed a potent fleet of long-range naval and aerial maritime drones capable of striking Russian warships, ports and infrastructure deep in the Black Sea, offsetting its lack of traditional fleet power.
Turkey’s Uraloglu said that because the blasts happened so close to Turkey’s shores, “we are highly sensitive on the issue.” The Bosporus, a major waterway in Turkey for commodities including Russian oil exported from the Black Sea, has been open for commercial traffic throughout most of the war in Ukraine.
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