Russian Tanker Valery Gorchakov, Which Was Attacked by Drones, Sinks

A Russian oil tanker struck by a Ukrainian drone began to sink near the marine terminal of the Novoshakhtyn Oil Products Plant.

This was reported by ASTRA.

It is noted that the attacked vessel was located directly near the terminal for transshipment of oil products.

Three days ago, on December 15, Ukrainian forces had already struck the area, when a fire broke out about 850 meters from the tanker damaged in the current attack.

The tanker itself was attacked on the night of December 18. Rostov Region Governor Yuri Slyusar reported damage to the vessel, as well as deaths and injuries among its crew.

Eyewitnesses wrote in local public media that the attack on the region was probably carried out with the use of jet drones.

According to eyewitnesses, after the attack, the ship began to sink underwater: the stern was flooded almost to the level of the superstructure. The area of the attack was quickly cordoned off and the tanker itself was fenced off with boom barriers.

The attack damaged the ship’s wheelhouse and hull, caused holes in the engine room and tiller room, and started a fire.

Later, it turned out that the tanker Valery Gorchakov, built in 1969, was damaged.

The vessel was originally built in Romania as a 1565 river bulk carrier, but in 2004 it was converted into an oil tanker for the transportation of all classes of oil products.

The vessel is 138.8 meters long, 16.7 meters wide, 5.5 meters high, and has a draft of about 3 meters.

The deadweight of the tanker is 5,100 tons. The vessel is owned by Volgo-Balt Service.