A large fire broke out on a Turkish car ferry anchored in the Ukrainian port city of Odessa after it was hit during a strike on Friday.
The company that operates the Cenk T confirmed that the attack occurred at 4:00 p.m. local time (2:00 p.m. GMT) shortly after it docked at the port of Chornomorsk.
Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky blamed the strike on Russia, which made no comment.
The attack came hours after Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told Russian President Vladimir Putin that a limited ceasefire for energy facilities and ports could be beneficial. Russia has resisted all calls for a ceasefire.
Moscow has threatened to cut “Ukraine from the sea” in response to kyiv’s maritime drone attacks on Russian “ghost fleet” tankers, believed to be used to export oil – and a main source of funding for the ongoing war.
Cenk Denizcilik, the company that owns the cargo ship operating on the Karasu-Odessa route across the Black Sea, said Friday it was carrying “essential supplies” when it was struck shortly after anchoring in the Ukrainian port city.
Emergency response measures were immediately activated with the ship’s crew, port firefighters and assistance tugs after a fire broke out in the forward part of the ship, the company statement added.
“At this stage, no casualties or injuries among the crew have been reported,” he added.
Video footage of the attack’s aftermath, shared on Zelensky’s Telegram account, shows crews trying to put out a large fire on the ship.
While condemning a series of missile attacks carried out the previous night by Russia in the Odessa region, the Ukrainian leader criticized Moscow for targeting the Turkish civilian ship, saying it “could not have any military significance”.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry said an agreement should be reached that would guarantee “the security of maritime transport and the suspension of attacks on energy and port infrastructure to avoid escalation in the Black Sea.”
“We once again emphasize the importance of urgently ending the war between Russia and Ukraine,” the ministry said.
Turkey has sought to maintain relations with the two countries at war since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.
It also controls the Bosphorus Strait, which is a key passage for transporting Ukrainian grain and Russian oil to the Mediterranean.
