Two seafarers are in a serious condition after the Moldovan tanker they manned along with eight other crew came under attack by Russia’s navy at the Port of Odessa on Friday.
According to the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority, the Millennial Spirit was carrying 600 tonnes of fuel oil and diesel when its superstructure and midships were struck by missiles.
Merchant marine security resource, Dryad Global, confirmed that the vessel had been hit twice, first in the main and then the middle section.
According to reports, a number of vessels rushed to the tanker’s aid and managed to rescue all crew.
They were subsequently evacuated to the Port of Chernomorsk further down the Black Sea coast of Sukhoy Liman, where the injured crew members, one of whom is the ship’s master, were hospitalised.
Friday’s second hit of a commercial vessel brought to three the number of non-combatant ships targeted since Russia launched its military offensive against Ukraine last Wednesday.
The first to come under attack was the Turkish-owned Yasa Jupiter, a dry-bulk tanker struck by a Russian missile the day after the invasion started.
It was about 50 nautical miles south of Odessa, ready to take on a load of wheat when it was rocked by an explosion.
The following day, Russia’s navy followed suit with another attack on a commercial vessel, the Japanese bulk carrier, Namura Queen, at anchorage about 10 nautical miles from Odessa at the time.
It was around the same time that the Millennial Spirit was also struck in the most severe assault at sea since the invasion started.
Along with yesterday’s attack on an oil pipeline near the north-eastern city of Kharkiv, Russia is clearly pinpointing infrastructural assets crucial to Ukraine’s grain and oil sectors.
Dryad Global warned merchant marine interests that the situation in the Black Sea was extremely dangerous and unstable and that, wherever possible, commercial vessels should immediately leave for safer waters.
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