Three seriously injured as drone strikes Turkish roro off Novorossiysk
Three seafarers were seriously injured when a drone struck the Turkish-owned roro Nadezhda about 20 nautical miles off the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, in the latest attack on merchant shipping in a theatre that has become steadily more dangerous for crews. The Cameroon-flagged vessel was struck on Monday 3 August while outbound for Samsun with a cargo of fresh produce, one of the routine agricultural runs that continue between Russia and Turkey despite the conflict.
The damage was to the accommodation block and the bow, and a fire continued to burn aboard afterwards. Turkish maritime authorities confirmed that 22 crew members were aboard, 13 of them Turkish nationals, and said the condition of three of them appeared serious on the basis of initial information. All 22 were evacuated to Novorossiysk by Russian maritime units. Rescue work in the immediate area was constrained by what the authorities described as a continuing risk of further drone attacks.
The vessel is an old one. She was built in 1978, measures 5,613 gross tons and around 119 metres, and is linked to a Samsun-based operator. Ships of that vintage carry accommodation and lifesaving arrangements designed for a very different risk environment, and they are the tonnage most readily available for trades that better ships have left.
No party has claimed responsibility, and Turkish authorities have made no official attribution. The master has alleged Ukrainian involvement, but that account has not been confirmed by any government and should be treated as an allegation rather than a finding. The pattern of recent strikes in the northeastern Black Sea has been consistent enough that owners no longer treat the absence of a claim as meaningful.
The human cost of the trade has become the central issue for the seafarers who work it. A Turkish seafarers' union responded to the attack by accusing operators of sending crews into a war zone for the sake of elevated freight earnings and then leaving them to their fate rather than ensuring their safety. At least fifteen seafarers have been killed in the Black Sea region during June and July, a toll that has begun to shape crewing availability as much as insurance terms shape trading decisions.
