Crew members rescued from oil tankers in Black Sea: Turkish authorities

Turkish authorities on Friday said they had taken crew members off two oil tankers in the Black Sea after explosions and fires on board.

The Directorate General of Maritime Affairs wrote on X that the Kairos, which was empty and en route to the Russian port of Novorossiysk, caught fire 28 nautical miles (52 kilometres) off the Turkish coast.

"All 25 crew members are safe and sound," it added.

The directorate gave no indication about the cause of the fire, which was still burning, with flames and thick black smoke visible at the bow of the vessel.

The fire broke out on the Gambian-flagged Kairos at about 6:00 pm (1500 GMT) off Kefken, in Türkiye's northern Kocaeli province, its governor Ilhami Aktas told the NTV channel.

A second oil tanker, the Virat, "reported being hit approximately 35 nautical miles away", the directorate said, without specifying the nature of the impact.

"Rescue teams and a cargo vessel were sent to the scene. The 20 crew members are safe and sound and thick smoke was detected in the engine room," it added.

The Virat is also Gambian-flagged, according to the Vesselfinder website.

The authorities have not specified what caused the incidents, but a number of naval mines have been located and destroyed in the Black Sea since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The mines, placed by both sides to protect the coastline, have since drifted, particularly during storms.

As a result of the danger, NATO members Türkiye, Bulgaria and Romania, which all have a coastline on the Black Sea, established a naval Mine Countermeasures Group in 2024.