“This Is Virat, Need Help”

New Delhi: An unmanned sea vehicle struck a Russian oil tanker, ‘Virat’ in the Black Sea on Saturday. The same tanker had been previously hit by blasts late Friday.

The crew of the tanker reported a ‘drone attack’ in an intercepted open-frequency radio distress call. However, they were referring to unmanned maritime drones. In a video, the crew can be heard saying, “This is VIRAT. Help needed! Drone attack! Mayday!”

The Turkish transport ministry said ,”The Virat, which was previously said to have been attacked by unmanned maritime vehicles approximately 35 nautical miles off the Black Sea coastline, was attacked again by unmanned maritime vehicles early this morning”.

Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said, “An external impact means the vessel was hit by a mine, a rocket, or a similar projectile, or perhaps by a drone, or by an unmanned underwater vehicle. These are the first things that come to mind.”

Although Virat suffered minor damage, it is in a stable condition, and the crew is also in good health.

AFP has reported that Ukraine is behind the attack on Russian ‘shadow fleet’ tankers. This comes in the backdrop of the Russia-Ukraine conflict at a time when Kyiv is under intense US pressure to sign a peace deal.

An official from the security service of Ukraine said that the joint operation to hit the ‘shadow fleet’ vessels was run by the SBU and Ukraine navy.