Turkish Ship's Cook Killed in Second Black Sea Drone Strike
Ilker Lazoglu survived the attack on the Necibe, then died aboard the ship that rescued him
A series of drone strikes on two cargo ships off the Russian Black Sea coast has left eight injured and one seafarer dead. The man killed had been rescued from the first vessel hit, only to die in a later attack on the ship that saved him.
On August 18, the Turkish-owned, San Marino-flagged freighter Necibe came under attack while loading wheat off Tuapse. All 18 crew abandoned ship safely and were picked up by the Turkish-owned ro-ro cargo ship Ural, an ageing vessel flagged in Cameroon.
On August 21, the Ural, still working in the region, was also attacked. Eight crew were injured and one, Ilker Lazoglu, lost his life. Lazoglu, 47, had been the head cook aboard the Necibe.
"He called me when the ship was bombed. He said he was alive and that I shouldn't worry," his uncle Faruk said. "He said that another ship would come soon to rescue him and that he would transfer to that ship."
On the night of August 21, the family received a call from a company official saying that the Ural had been hit and that Lazoglu had been seriously wounded. He died before he could receive medical attention. He leaves two young daughters.
The Ural has returned to Turkey to disembark the survivors and repatriate Lazoglu's remains.
The sequence illustrates the compounding risk for Turkish tonnage in the Black Sea. Small Turkish coasters carry much of the region's cargo and serve both Russian and Ukrainian routes, which has left them exposed to both belligerents; vessels under the flag have been hit by each side, with multiple fatalities. It also shows that assisting a stricken ship offers no protection: the rescuing vessel remained in the same threatened waters and was struck three days later.
Ukraine has warned shipping interests to stay away from Russia's Black Sea ports, arguing that these areas are inherently dangerous.
"Our aim is not to kill civilians; civilians are not our target. Unfortunately, they are victims of war," said Naryman Dzhelialov, Ukraine's ambassador to Ankara. "Before Russia attacked Ukraine, the Black Sea was a zone of peace. The Black Sea is not a safe place. Shipowners need to take this into account as well."
Loadings at Novorossiysk and the smaller terminals along the coast have been repeatedly disrupted as strikes on merchant ships have multiplied, and the casualty toll among crews has climbed with them.
