Two oil tankers sanctioned for transporting Russian crude were reportedly rocked by explosions off Turkey’s Black Sea coast, the latest in a growing series of mysterious blasts striking vessels tied to Moscow’s covert shipping network. The incidents triggered emergency rescue operations but left authorities with few answers as to who or what caused the damage.
The 900-foot tanker Kairos, traveling from Egypt to Russia, suffered an explosion and caught fire, according to Turkish officials. Emergency crews evacuated all 25 members of its crew. Farther east along the coast, the 820-foot Virat began emitting thick smoke from its engine room after an apparent impact. All 20 personnel onboard were reported to be safe.
Turkey’s transport minister, Abdulkadir Uraloglu, said early reports indicated the explosions resulted from an “external impact,” though he stopped short of confirming what exactly struck the tankers. “It can be a mine or a drone or a sea drone. These are all possible,” he said in a televised statement.
Both tankers sail under the Gambian flag and are part of Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” — hundreds of aging, lightly insured vessels Moscow has turned to in order to evade Western sanctions on its oil exports. These tankers, often decades old and lacking rigorous oversight, allow Russia to keep its oil revenue flowing while bypassing Western insurance, safety requirements, and monitoring systems. Kairos is under sanctions by both the European Union and the U.K., while Virat is blacklisted by the U.S. and EU.
Turkish authorities emphasized that neither tanker was carrying oil at the time of the explosions, reducing the risk of an environmental disaster in the tightly trafficked waterway.
Still, the incidents fuel mounting concerns about security in the Black Sea, a region already destabilized by Russia’s war in Ukraine. The blasts follow a pattern of similar mysterious strikes on Russia-linked ships this year. In July, an explosion aboard the Eco Wizard tanker caused an ammonia leak. In most cases, investigators have been unable to pin down whether the cause was naval mines, mechanical failures, or deliberate attacks.
Ships in the Black Sea have frequently encountered drifting mines since the war began, and maritime analysts have speculated that Ukraine — which has built a powerful arsenal of long-range maritime drones — may be targeting the vessels. After an explosion on the Vilamoura tanker in June, Ukraine’s military intelligence acknowledged the event but offered no further details.
Ukraine has turned to drone warfare to compensate for its lack of a traditional navy, successfully striking Russian warships, ports, and infrastructure far from its shores. These capabilities make Ukrainian involvement likely, though not confirmed.
Turkey, which controls the Bosporus strait — a critical choke point for Russian oil exports — is watching closely. “Because the blasts happened so close to our shores, we are highly sensitive on the issue,” Uraloglu said. Despite the war, the Bosporus has largely remained open to commercial shipping, underscoring its importance to global energy markets.
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