Turkish-owned tanker taking on water after possible USV attack, says state ministry

A sanctioned, laden crude oil tanker is the latest commercial vessel subject to potential attack. 

Maritime security and intelligence firm Vanguard said the Sierra Leone-flagged Altura was carrying 140,000 tonnes of crude oil when it suffered an explosion on approach to the Bosphorus Strait. The strait connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara and bisects the Turkish capital of Istanbul.

Turkish Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu said the vessel is Turkish-owned and that his government suspect it was the target of an attack.

"We believe that the engine room of the Turkish-operated, foreign-flagged ship attacked in the Black Sea was [sabotaged]," Mr Uraloğlu’s account on X said in a post (via automatic translation tools). 

The minister said the government had received confirmation that the vessel’s 27 crew members, all Turkish nationals, are safe and uninjured.

Mr Uraloğlu also reported that Turkish authorities have assessed that the incident  may have been carried out by an unmanned surface vehicle, noting that it was not assessed to be the result of an aerial drone attack, according to Vanguard.

The attack occurred approximately 15 nautical miles north of the Bosphorus after Altura had visited the Russian oil loading port of Novorossiysk.

Vanguard’s reports cited damage to the vessel’s deck and engine room, with water ingress repored in the engine room. 

Turkish coast guard and coastal safety vessels responded along with tugs and a named emergency response vessel, Nene Hatun. 

The tanker is sanctioned under multiple regimes, including those in the UK, Ukraine and Switzerland, for the transport of Russian-origin oil cargoes.