Four oil tankers in the Black Sea which were managed by Greece were hit by unidentified drones on Tuesday, January 13, Reuters reported quoting sources. The oil tankers were on the way to load oil at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal off the Russian coast when they were hit. It is yet not certain as to who was behind the drone attack on the oil tankers.
Since it happened off the Russian coast, there was speculation that Ukraine was behind the attack, but Kyiv has not yet issued a statement on the incident in the Black Sea.
In a statement, the CPC said that Matilda was hit by a drone on January 13, the news agency reported.
Prior to this incident, a Ukrainian drone had hit one of three main CPC moorings near the port of Novorossyisk, resulting in oil exports and output in Kazakhstan to fall.
Oil and gas condensate production in Kazakhstan fell 35 per cent between January 1-12 compared with December’s average, a source familiar with the data told Reuters, citing export restrictions at the Black Sea terminal as the main cause
Kazakhstan's energy ministry said on Tuesday, January 13, that CPC continues oil exports via one mooring.
One of the tankers, the Delta Harmony, is managed by Greece's Delta Tankers, LSEG data showed, and according to the sources was expected to load Kazakh-produced oil from Tengizchevroil, a unit of US oil major Chevron. Another, Matilda, is managed by Greece's Thenamaris and was expected to load oil from Karachaganak, the sources added.
A Thenamaris official has confirmed that Matilda was hit by two drones. The attack happened while it was waiting in ballast condition 30 miles off CPC.
The company official said, “There were no injuries and the ship suffered minor damage to deck structures according to an initial assessment, which is fully repairable. The ship, seaworthy as it is, is now sailing away from the area.”
Two sources in maritime security said that a fire reportedly broke out on board and was quickly extinguished.
Two more oil tankers, the Freud, managed by Greece's TMS, and Delta Supreme, managed by Delta Tankers, were also hit by drones near the CPC terminal, three of the sources said.
The CPC pipeline ships oil to the Black Sea's Yuzhnaya Ozereyevka terminal, close to Novorossiisk in the south of Russia.
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