Turkey Delays, Then Resumes, Black Sea-Bound Ship Transits as Attacks on Merchant Vessels Mount

Written By Thomas Owen

A MariTrace map graphic of the Turkish Straits and western Black Sea

Turkey resumed issuing transit permits for commercial vessels heading into the Black Sea on Sunday 9 August, ending unexplained delays and restrictions — first reported on Saturday — in transit permitting for ships bound for Russia's Novorossiysk and, reportedly, for Ukrainian ports as well. The crude oil tanker Aegean Dream, which had been waiting near the Dardanelles since Thursday, entered the strait on Sunday signalling the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal at Novorossiysk as its destination, Bloomberg reported. The container ship Mehmet Kahveci A transited early the same day, also bound for Novorossiysk.

The restriction itself had surfaced only a day earlier. Turkey's Directorate General of Coastal Safety had informed multiple ships bound for Novorossiysk — a key oil and grain export hub — that it was not issuing transit permits for such voyages through the Dardanelles, or needed additional time to review applications, Bloomberg reported on Saturday, citing unnamed sources. No official explanation was given, and some vessels were reportedly told the hold applied to ships heading for Ukraine as well. Vessels bound for Bulgarian or Turkish ports were still transiting the Dardanelles as of Saturday afternoon, Bloomberg reported. Two unnamed Turkish government officials later told Reuters the steps were temporary measures, taken after a period of unease over security in the region, insisting that passage through the straits was continuing smoothly within the framework of the 1936 Montreux Convention, which guarantees free passage for civilian shipping in peacetime (Reuters, via Arab News).

The restrictions followed a run of attacks on merchant ships that has reached Turkish tonnage on both sides of the Black Sea. In drone attacks on the evening of Monday 3 August, reported the following day, two Turkish-owned cargo vessels — the Panama-flagged Yasar(also reported as Yaşar) and the Cameroon-flagged Nadezhda — were hit after departing Novorossiysk. The Nadezhda was struck around 20 nautical miles off the port while en route to Samsun, catching fire; her 22 crew, 13 of them Turkish nationals, were evacuated to Novorossiysk by Russian maritime units, three of them seriously injured, her operator said (The Moscow Times; Turkish Minute). No party has claimed responsibility, and Ukrainian authorities have not publicly commented on the attacks. On the opposite shore, a drone hit the accommodation block of the Turkish-owned, Panama-flagged dry cargo ship ATA-2 off Chornomorsk on 30 July, after she departed with a cargo of corn, Türkiye Today reported; no one claimed that attack either.

Behind the Turkish incidents, both belligerents now claim strikes on shipping at scale. Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces commander Robert Brovdi, known by the call sign "Madyar" (rendered "Magyar" in some reports), claimed on 8 August that Ukrainian drones had struck 218 vessels linked to Russia's shadow fleet since the campaign began on 6 July — 134 in the Sea of Azov and 84 in the Black Sea, 12 of them between 1 and 8 August — and claimed traffic through the Kerch Strait has been blocked since 10 July (USM; Kyiv Post). Russia's defence ministry, for its part, said on 8 August that it had struck military warehouses in the port of Odesa, a cargo vessel it said was carrying military equipment in Mykolaiv, and another dry cargo ship in the Black Sea it said was transporting military supplies for Ukraine's armed forces (Reuters, via WHBL). Reuters noted it could not independently verify the claims of either side.

Ankara is trying to convert its leverage into a ceasefire at sea. "At first, ports and warships were attacked. Now all commercial vessels are being attacked indiscriminately. We need to create a mechanism that would allow us to declare a moratorium," foreign minister Hakan Fidan said in an interview with Anadolu, adding that Ukraine had already made such a proposal and that Ankara had passed it to Moscow and was awaiting a response (The Kyiv Independent). Separately, Bloomberg — citing an unnamed US official — reported that Ukraine has agreed not to target non-Russian tankers or infrastructure serving the CPC terminal at Novorossiysk — provided vessels are not under Ukrainian sanctions, are not Russian-owned and are not carrying Russian cargo — with contact points established so commercial operators can confirm safe passage (Kyiv Post; Interfax-Ukraine). The reports carried no public confirmation from Kyiv or Moscow, and followed late-July Ukrainian strikes near the CPC terminal that disrupted Kazakh oil loadings, one of which affected a tanker chartered by Chevron.

For operators, the episode cuts two ways. The hold was brief, informal and never publicly explained — but it showed that administrative security measures at the straits can temporarily delay vessels according to their intended Black Sea destination, leaving operators uncertain about when permits will resume. A vessel fixed for Novorossiysk or a Ukrainian port therefore carries not only the war-risk exposure of the load port itself but the possibility of additional waiting time at the Turkish straits while insurers, charterers and operators reassess that exposure. The Aegean Dream waited in the area for roughly three days; others may wait longer if the attacks continue.

As of writing, transits have resumed and Turkish officials say passage is flowing smoothly. Fidan has said measures on Black Sea security have been presented to the president and are being put into effect, without detailing them (Bloomberg, via gCaptain). Ankara, by Fidan's account, is still waiting on Moscow's answer to the moratorium proposal, and no party has claimed the strikes on the Yasar, Nadezhda or ATA-2. The straits are open — but the past week has shown how quickly commercial access can become constrained when the war reaches the ships that carry the region's trade.

Sources

MariTrace tracks vessel movements and maritime security incidents in the Black Sea and worldwide.

Thomas Owen
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