Five Grain Carriers Attacked Near Russia’s Black Sea Ports – Bloomberg

At least five grain carriers were attacked by drones near the Russian Black Sea ports of Novorossiysk and Tuapse.

The incidents were reported by Bloomberg, citing sources who requested anonymity.

Four vessels were attacked on Tuesday morning, and another grain carrier was struck on Monday.

Among the damaged vessels was the bulk carrier Victoria V under the Russian flag, which was attacked near Novorossiysk after arriving at the port to load wheat. he Fehu, flying the Marshall Islands flag, was struck after leaving that same port with a cargo of wheat, but was able to continue its voyage.

The Malta-flagged bulk carrier Elina B was attacked after loading around 56,000 tons of wheat in Novorossiysk. Following the incident, it continued its way toward the Bosphorus.

Another damaged grain carrier was Necibe, sailing under the San Marino flag. It was attacked by UAVs in the port of Tuapse, where the vessel was scheduled to load around 20,000 tons of wheat.

The fifth incident occurred on Monday. The Liberia-flagged bulk carrier Anna S was en route to Novorossiysk, where it was scheduled to load barley. After a drone strike, a fire broke out on board, and the vessel was unable to continue its voyage due to the damage it sustained.

According to MarineTraffic, all of the vessels mentioned above are currently, or have recently been, in the Black Sea.

The publication noted that this is the first confirmed evidence of attacks on grain vessels serving Russian ports on the Black Sea.

Russia is trying to downplay the extent of the damage caused by Ukrainian strikes on port infrastructure amid growing concerns among shipowners about calling at its ports.

Earlier, Bloomberg sources reported that a tanker had been hit after loading Russian oil at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal near Novorossiysk.

The attack took place on Sunday near the terminal. The Suezmax-class tanker Skiros, which can carry about 1 million barrels of oil, was targeted.