Turkey reported on Saturday that a Russian shadow fleet tanker was reportedly attacked by an unmanned vessel off the Black Sea coast of Turkey after it had been struck on Friday.

In a press release, the Turkish Transport Ministry said that Virat sustained minor damage but was in stable condition. The crew were also in good health.

The Virat was attacked this morning, again by unmanned ships, 35 miles off the coast of the Black Sea. The ministry reported that the (Virat), which sustained minor damage above the waterline on its starboard side, was attacked again this morning by unmanned vessels.

The perpetrators of the reported attacks were not immediately known.

The ministry reported that Turkish authorities are continuing to extinguish and cool efforts on a second Russian-bound oil tanker which caught fire following an explosion in Black Sea.

According to the Ministry, 25 crew members were evacuated from the 274 meter long Kairos after the fire.

The Turkish government said that Kairos, which was headed to Russia's Novorossiysk Port when "an external incident" caused a fire at 28 nautical miles from the Turkish coast.

According to LSEG, both Kairos and Virat appear on a list that includes ships subject to sanctions imposed by Russia after its full-scale invasion in Ukraine in 2022. (Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu Writing by Ezgi Erkoyun; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)

(source: Reuters)