Naval drone strike damages Turkish-operated tanker in Black Sea, crew safe

ISTANBUL (AP) — A Turkish-operated oil tanker that had departed from Russia was struck by a naval drone on Thursday as it approached the Black Sea entrance to the Bosporus Strait, Turkish officials said.

All 27 Turkish crew members of the Altura were unharmed in the attack, which occurred early Thursday and caused damage to the bridge and engine room.

Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said the tanker was subjected to an “attack by an unmanned sea vessel,” without saying whether Ukraine was suspected to be behind the attack.

In an interview Thursday morning with broadcaster 24TV, he added: “Our technical teams have been dispatched to the scene. It was an externally caused explosion, a deliberate attack aimed at disabling the ship, particularly targeting the engine room. We don’t know the owner, but it’s a Turkish company.”

The Altura has been subject to European Union sanctions since October 2025 due to its role as part of a exporting Russian oil and petroleum products, according to the Open Sanctions website.

The ship, which was reportedly carrying 140,000 tonnes of crude oil when it was hit some 14 nautical miles north of the Bosphorus, is Turkish-flagged and has been owned by Turkey-based Pergamon Maritime since November 2025.

Open Sanctions also reported links between the vessel and the Iranian regime under its previous ownership.

The Altura left Russia’s Novorossiysk port on Sunday, according to the Maritime Traffic website.

Following the explosion, the tanker radioed for emergency assistance and the rescue ship Nene Hatun and other vessels were dispatched by Turkey’s General Directorate of Coastal Safety.

In November, the Turkish government condemned on two Russian “shadow fleet” oil tankers in the Black Sea.

The Foreign Ministry said at the time that the attacks on the Kairos and Virat vessels inside Turkey’s exclusive economic zone posed “serious risks to navigation, life, property and environmental safety in the region.”

Ukraine had previously carried out successful naval strikes against Russian shipping during the war, particularly using explosives-packed marine drones. However, Ukrainian missions have previously largely been limited to the waters of the northern Black Sea.