The deadliest incident came on Sunday when the Turkish-owned, Guinea-Bissau-flagged Golden Leo was hit by three Russian cruise missiles after sailing from the Odesa region with a grain cargo.
Ukraine’s transport ministry said 10 sailors had been confirmed dead, and eight had been rescued, including two who were injured. The 18 people aboard included Syrian and Indian crewmembers and a Ukrainian maritime pilot, who was among those killed. Search and rescue operations were continuing.
The attack followed a strike on the Antigua and Barbuda-flagged supramax Venturo off the Odesa coast. Ukraine’s navy said the bulker lost propulsion after being hit, forcing naval crews to evacuate 17 Filipino seafarers while further attacks continued in the area. One person was killed and three were injured.
Friday had already brought casualties at Mykolaiv, where Shahed-type drones struck port infrastructure and damaged three foreign-flagged civilian vessels. Two Ukrainian citizens aboard one of the ships were killed.
The weekend’s violence was not one-sided. Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces claimed to have hit 12 Russian-linked vessels in the Black Sea on Friday, comprising nine dry cargo ships, one oil tanker, one gas carrier and a tug.
A further 13 ships were targeted across the Black Sea and Sea of Azov overnight into Saturday, according to Ukrainian drone commander Robert Brovdi. The reported targets included eight cargo ships, an oil tanker, an LNG carrier, a tug and two floating cranes.
Three suezmaxes belonging to Dynacom, Nordic American and Alafouzos were attacked by drones at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal in two separate incidents on Friday and Sunday.
Shipbroker Gibson said Ukraine’s wider “long-range sanctions” campaign is also having a growing impact ashore.
Drone attacks have reportedly disabled more than 40% of Russian refining capacity, with all 11 of the country’s largest refineries hit at least once.
For a major petroleum exporter, the reversal is striking: Moscow is now set to import fuel from neighbouring countries and more distant suppliers to cover domestic requirements.
Chart Source: Gibson
Feature Photo Source: Ukrainan Navy
Article Source: splash247.com
