Naval News
On the night of November 28 the Ukrainian armed forces deployed so-called Sea Baby Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs) in the Black Sea and specifically attacked two tankers, believed to be part of Russia’s alleged shadow fleet. This fleet, made up of aging oil tankers flying under flags of convenience, is used by Russia to circumvent the oil embargo’s that has been put in place by Western countries.
The Ukrainian drones struck the oil tankers Kairos and Virat in the vicinity if the Turkish Straits. Both vessels were empty at the time of the attack and heading towards the Russian oil terminal located at Novorossiysk to load oil. The Kiaros was coming from Egypt and was attacked 28 nautical miles offshore the Turkish coast. The vessel suffered an explosion and fire, disabling the vessel. The second vessel, Virat, was struck near the engine room but is reported as in stable condition.
With these strikes, the Ukrainians are opening a new phase in the maritime war in the Black Sea whereby Ukrainian USVs are targeting Shadow Fleet tankers, possibly to dissuade other ships belonging to the Shadow Fleet to no longer head to Russian ports.
