KABUL: Turkey’s Ministry of Transport has confirmed that two oil tankers belonging to Russia’s “shadow fleet” caught fire in the Black Sea following explosions.
Reuters reported on Friday night, the Turkish transport officials said that, the oil tanker “Kairos,” with 274 meters length, was en route from Egypt to Russia when it experienced an explosion near the Bosporus Strait. Meanwhile, the tanker “Virat” was reported to have encountered an explosion 35 nautical miles further east in the Black Sea.
Rescue teams managed to successfully evacuate 25 crew members from the “Kairos” and an additional 20 crew members from the “Virat.”
As reported, both tankers had been sanctioned following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The transport agency “Tribeca” indicated that the “Kairos” was traveling under the Gambian flag at the time of the incident and was carrying no cargo.
While the cause of the explosions on these two Russian oil tankers is still unknown, similar incidents have previously occurred due to mines exploding in the Black Sea.