Two Oil Tankers of Russian Shadow Fleet “Mysteriously” Caught Fire in the Black Sea

Two incidents involving the Russian shadow fleet were recorded in the Black Sea. Two oil tankers caught fire while moving along the Turkish coast.

Turkey and Bloomberg reported that a fire suddenly broke out on the Kairos tanker.

The 25-member crew was not injured, and rescuers were sent to the vessel.

Port agents suggest that Kairos may have hit a mine. The vessel was heading empty toward Novorossiysk for another load of Urals oil.

The second tanker, Virat, was also damaged in the western part of the Black Sea. It had been idle for most of the year after being subject to US and EU sanctions.

Both vessels are included in the list of sanctioned carriers of Russian oil. They were not carrying any cargo at the time of the incidents.

Kairos is a Suezmax class tanker flying the Gambian flag, measuring 274×48 meters. The vessel is managed by Alafia Trading Ltd, a company registered in Shanghai.

According to Bloomberg, the Kairos was returning from India and headed for a Russian port. Since the beginning of the war, there has been a constant risk of ships being blown up by mines in the Black Sea.

The Turkish Maritime Administration has clarified that the fire on the Kairos started 28 miles off the coast. The vessel remains at risk of sinking.

OSINT sources consider the possibility of an attack by maritime drones as one of the versions. There is no official confirmation of this yet.

The Bosphorus remains open for navigation. Turkey continues to monitor and coordinate rescue efforts in the area.

As a reminder, a damaged ship was recently spotted being towed in Novorossiysk after the Ukrainian attacks.