A cargo ship has been damaged and four people have been injured in a rocket attack at the Ukrainian port of Odesa.
Port infrastructure also sustained damage in the incident on Friday morning.
Ukrainska Pravda cited Oleh Kiper, head of Odesa’s military administration, as saying: “Early reports indicate that the wreckage from an Iskander-M missile caused damage to the port, civilian infrastructure and a civilian vessel flying the Antiguan flag.”
He blamed Russian forces for the attack.
In its daily briefing on 21 September, Russia’s defence ministry confirmed that its forces “damaged a dry cargo ship with missiles and ammunition” supplied to Ukraine by its Western allies.
The Russian government did not clarify where exactly its forces struck but added that “two warehouses of missile and artillery weapons” were destroyed as part of the same attack.
According to Kiper, four civilians were injured in the Russian assault and they were being provided with “all necessary assistance”.
Security company Ambrey Analytics also said the ship was Antigua and Barbuda-flagged.
The only Antiguan vessels in the port are the 6,300-dwt general cargo sisters Silver Lion (built 2005) and Golden Lion (built 2006), both operated by Astramar Transport of Latvia.
The company has been contacted for comment.
A total of 14 merchant vessels were present in the port when the attack took place.
Ambrey is advising ships operating in the Black Sea to conduct comprehensive dynamic voyage threat assessments.
“Crew members should remain within the vessel’s superstructure during any aerial attacks on port infrastructure,” it added.
Last week, a Russian missile hit a ship carrying wheat in the Black Sea, Ukrainian authorities said.
“Fortunately, there were no casualties, according to preliminary reports,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a social media post.
He did not identify the ship other than to say that it was heading to Egypt and that the incident happened “right after it [the ship] left Ukrainian waters”.
In a later statement, the Ukrainian Navy confirmed that the vessel was the Saint Kitts and Nevis-flagged 27,300-dwt Aya (built 1997) — a ship managed by VRS Maritime Services, based in the United Arab Emirates.
Harry Papachristou contributed to this article
