All 23 Indian crew members aboard a Liberia-flagged oil tanker were rescued after the vessel was attacked by unmanned surface vessels (USVs) off Russia’s Black Sea coast, Russian media reported quoting country’s officials.
The Aframax Rio tanker was attacked on Tuesday near Sochi, Russia’s popular Black Sea resort city. A fire subsequently broke out aboard the vessel, according to Russia’s Transport Ministry.
“The crew has been saved and evacuated to shore,” a spokesman for the Russian Transport Ministry told state-run TASS news agency.
Preliminary information indicated that none of the 23 Indian crew members was injured.
Russian Transport Minister Andrey Nikitin held a meeting to coordinate efforts to deal with the aftermath of the attack on Aframax Rio.
The fire was initially so intense that rescue vessels could not safely approach the tanker to begin firefighting operations, according to the report.
Oil continued to burn in the Black Sea, with firefighting operations expected to begin once the intensity of the blaze decreased sufficiently for rescue vessels to approach the tanker safely.
As a precaution, Sochi Mayor Andrey Proshunin temporarily prohibited access to the city’s beaches and sea embankments.
“The city’s emergency response centre has made a decision to temporarily ban access to the beaches and sea embankments. Sochi residents and guests are kindly requested not to expose to risks and wait for an official decision regarding their reopening,” Proshunin wrote on Telegram.
The Black Sea is a crucial global trade route that has faced increasing disruption amid attacks on commercial shipping and port infrastructure during the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The Aframax Rio incident came two days after at least two people were killed and several crew members, including an Indian national, were injured when a Russian drone strike caused a fire aboard a Turkish-owned civilian cargo vessel in the Black Sea.
India expressed serious concern over attacks targeting commercial vessels and seafarers.
“The targeting of traffic in international waterways is severely undermining global commerce and welfare of people across the world,” the Ministry of External Affairs said. “We continue to call for dialogue and diplomacy to bring an end to the ongoing conflicts.”
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Sunday that India had moved beyond advocacy and intensified its efforts in recent months to help resolve the Ukraine conflict through engagement with both Kyiv and Moscow.
New Delhi has continued to emphasise dialogue and diplomacy as the way to bring ongoing conflicts to an end.
