Istanbul: Turkish authorities mounted daring rescues Friday after two Gambian-flagged oil tankers, Kairos and Virat—both ensnared in Western sanctions for ferrying Russian crude—erupted in flames from suspected external strikes 28-35 nautical miles off Kocaeli province in the Black Sea.
The empty Kairos, bound for Russia’s Novorossiysk post-India delivery, ignited around 6:00 p.m. local time amid thick smoke billowing from its bow, while Virat reported engine room conflagration nearby; all 45 crew members across both vessels were evacuated unharmed by coast guard and cargo ship teams, with no immediate oil spills detected.
Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu attributed the infernos to “external causes” like drifting mines, rockets, drones, or unmanned submersibles—relics of Ukraine war detritus plaguing the region since 2022—exacerbated by NATO’s new Mine Countermeasures Group involving Turkey, Bulgaria, and Romania.
