The Liberia-flagged tanker 'Asia' was attacked by a drone while loading crude oil near Novorossiysk and has now passed through the Istanbul Strait.
The Liberian-flagged oil tanker 'Asia,' which was attacked by a drone while loading crude oil near Russia's Novorossiysk Port, has passed through the Istanbul Strait. During the secure passage of the tanker, the strait's traffic was temporarily suspended in both directions.
On July 19, a drone attack was carried out on the Liberian-flagged oil tanker 'Asia,' which was loading crude oil at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal located near Russia's Black Sea coast in Novorossiysk Port.
A fire broke out on the vessel during the attack. The fire was quickly brought under control by CPC's emergency response teams; however, the attack caused damage to the tanker’s engine room and superstructure. The 22 crew members on board were evacuated.
The tanker, reported to have a carrying capacity of 163,111 DWT, completed its navigation preparations after ensuring its safety and proceeded towards Turkey. The 'Asia' reached the Istanbul Strait at 05:00 today.
Traffic in the strait was halted in both directions.
During the tanker’s passage through the Istanbul Strait, security measures were heightened to the maximum level. The Coast Guard's Rescue 7, Rescue 8, Rescue 9, and Rescue 11 vessels, along with Nazım Tur tugboats and the KEGM-5 boat, escorted the 'Asia' tanker.
For security reasons, ship traffic in the Istanbul Strait was temporarily suspended in both directions during the passage. It was reported that after the tanker completed its transit, the strait traffic returned to normal.
The passage of the 'Asia' tanker through the strait has once again highlighted the risks posed by war-related attacks in the Black Sea on commercial vessels and energy transportation in the region.
Source: SeaNews Türkiye
