Ankara: A Turkish-operated oil tanker was hit by an explosion early Thursday in the Black Sea, with authorities suspecting the attack may have been carried out using an unmanned surface vehicle (USV), Turkey’s transport minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said.

Speaking in a televised interview, Uraloglu said the foreign-flagged vessel, operated by a Turkish company and carrying crude oil from Russia, reported a blast in its engine room shortly after midnight.

“The ship contacted our emergency call centre after an explosion in the engine room. We believe this section was deliberately targeted,” the minister said.

He added that initial assessments suggest the incident was not caused by an aerial drone but by a water-level unmanned surface vehicle, indicating a more sophisticated maritime attack.

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While officials did not confirm whether the incident occurred within Turkish territorial waters, local media reports indicated the tanker was struck less than 30 kilometres from the Bosphorus Strait, a strategically vital maritime route.

“It appears to be an externally triggered explosion aimed at disabling the vessel completely,” Uraloglu said, adding that response teams have been deployed and the situation is being closely monitored.

The Black Sea security situation has remained tense amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, with increasing concerns over maritime safety and energy transport routes.

In December, Turkey reported a series of security incidents linked to the conflict, prompting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to warn against the Black Sea turning into an “area of confrontation” between the warring sides.

Turkey, which shares its northern coastline with Ukraine and the annexed region of Crimea, has maintained diplomatic and economic ties with both Kyiv and Moscow since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

AFP