A Turkish-operated oil tanker was attacked early Thursday in the Black Sea, possibly by an unmanned surface vehicle, Turkey’s transport minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said.

“I can say that a foreign-flagged ship operated by a Turkish company, which had loaded crude oil from Russia, reported an explosion in its engine room after midnight to our emergency call centre,” the minister said in a televised interview. 

“We believe that the engine room was specifically targeted. We think the attack was not carried out by a drone, but by an unmanned surface vehicle at water level.”

The minister would not specify if the attack on the Sierra Leone-flagged tanker happened in Turkish waters but local media reported that it took place less than 30 kilometres from the Bosphorus strait. 

“It appears to be an externally caused explosion, particularly directed at the engine room, with the aim of completely disabling the ship,” Uraloglu said. 

“We have sent the necessary units to the scene and are monitoring the situation,” he added. 

In December, Turkey witnessed a series of security incidents linked to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warning against the Black Sea becoming an “area of confrontation” between the warring parties. 

Turkey, whose northern shore faces Ukraine and annexed Crimea, has maintained close ties with both Kyiv and Moscow since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.