The oil tanker Yasa Polaris (IMO: 9907457), which is used to transport oil from the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, or CPC, was attacked by a drone off Russia’s Black Sea coast, Reuters reported, citing the vessel’s management company, Ya-Sa Tanker.
According to Reuters, the vessel, which sails under the flag of the Marshall Islands and is managed by Turkish companies, had been chartered by U.S. energy giant Chevron. Reuters reported the incident occurred July 7 near the CPC marine terminal outside Novorossiysk while the empty tanker was “drifting offshore.”
“All crew members are safe and accounted for. No visible damage to the hull has been reported. No pollution or environmental impacts are reported currently. Our vessel has left the area,” the company said in a statement.
Chevron confirmed it was aware of the incident involving a vessel heading to CPC loading facilities near Novorossiysk. The company said exports of Kazakh oil were nevertheless continuing as normal. The company Tengizchevroil, controlled by Chevron, is the largest exporter of CPC Blend oil, which is produced mainly at the Tengiz field in Kazakhstan.
According to data from the vessel tracking platform Starboard Maritime Intelligence, the Yasa Polaris had previously called at Novorossiysk several times. On June 6, before its current voyage, the vessel loaded about 100 kilometers south of Dakar, Senegal, then unloaded part of its cargo at the Turkish port of Limas before heading to Russia’s Black Sea coast. The tanker entered the Black Sea on July 1, sailing along Turkey’s coast within the country’s exclusive economic zone.
By July 3, the vessel’s AIS track had become abnormal. The map showed chaotic movements, which may indicate spoofing — the falsification of navigation coordinates. The anomalies continued after the attack. On July 7 and afterward, the tanker transmitted coordinates near Novorossiysk, where the CPC terminals are located. At the time of publication, its AIS signal indicated that the vessel was moving in the southeastern Black Sea toward Trabzon, Turkey, though its physical location could not be confirmed.
In recent days, the Ukrainian military has said that its drones attacked around a dozen tankers from Russia’s “shadow fleet” that were delivering fuel to Russian-annexed Crimea. Ukrainian authorities have not officially commented on the Yasa Polaris incident. The tanker does not appear on the list maintained by Ukrainian intelligence of vessels it identifies as part of the “shadow fleet.”
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale war, Ukraine has repeatedly struck the CPC marine terminal and vessels transporting oil in the Black Sea. Last year, one of the terminal’s offshore moorings was seriously damaged in an attack.
