A small cargo ship stuck for months in the Ukrainian port of Kherson at the Dnipro river suffered damages from an incoming projectile, Turkish media reported.
The Turkish-owned 3,900-dwt Tuzla (built 1980) “was hit over the bridge” late on 24 January, according to the Turkish website Deniz Haber.
Video credit: Turk Deniz Medya
Another social media account following Black Sea ship movements related the incident as well, attributing the attack to a Russian missile.
Security company Ambrey said it had observed imagery of extensive fire damage within the bridge.
“Reportedly the crew quarters were also damaged in the fire. A bridge door appeared to have been blown off and was seen lying on the adjacent pier,” the company added.
Ambrey also visually confirmed impact damage to the port side bridge wing.
The company said a skeleton crew was assigned to the vessel, but no injuries were reported.
“Ambrey assesses that the vessel was caught in crossfire, as the frontlines at the time of the incident were on the banks of the Dnipro river, Ukraine,” it added.
Vessel trackers indicate the Tuzla as one of several vessels stuck in Ukraine since Russia invaded the country on 24 February.
The port city of Kherson, where the Tuzla is anchored, has been on the frontline ever since. It fell quickly into Russian hands but Ukrainian forces took back control of it in November, following a successful counterattack.
The city, however, remains well in striking distance of Russian troops who have holed themselves in on the south bank of the Dnipro river.
Any attack on the Tuzla or the 4,800-dwt Ferahnaz (built 1995), another vessel said by Deniz Haber to have been “targeted” by shelling on Tuesday, is therefore unlikely to have any impact on the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
The United Nations-led safe-corridor scheme, under which grain is carried out of Ukraine, does not cover Kherson, but three other Black Sea ports — Odesa, Yuzhny/Pivdennyi and Chernomorsk.
According to the S&P Global Market data platform, the Tuzla flies since December 2021 the flag of Vanuatu and has Arsenal Insurance as its last registered protection and indemnity club.
