666-Turkish Grain Cargo Ships Hit by Possible Missile in Ukraine

💭 Two Turkish-owned cargo ships have reportedly come under attack at the port of Kherson, marking the first time in many months that commercial ships have been damaged during the fighting in Ukraine. Turkish TV is airing an undated video showing the bridge and accommodation block of one of the vessels on fire while the second ship was reported to have been hit possibly by shrapnel.

Both of the vessels registered in Vanuatu and operated by Turkish shipping companies have been trapped in Kherson for nearly a year since the fighting began in Ukraine. They are part of as many as a dozen Turkish ships that were not covered by the UN agreement and have remained caught in Ukrainian ports including Kherson and Mykolaiv while the crews were mostly evacuated.

The vessel shown on fire is the Tuzla, a 43-year-old general cargo ship managed by Cayeli Shipping of Istanbul. AIS data shows the vessel departed Turkey on February 18, 2022, and arrived in Kherson on February 23, the day before the invasion of Ukraine. The vessel is 282 feet long and 3,943 dwt.

👉 Could it be these ships?

UN-chartered ship with 30,000 tones of wheat for Ethiopia leaves Ukrainian port

The Joint Coordination Center (JCC) reported that three ships loaded with wheat and corn left Ukrainian ports on Sunday, including a ship chartered by the UN World Food Program carrying 30,000 tones of wheat as humanitarian aid to Ethiopia. Two other ships were headed to Spain and Turkey with a total of 105,500 tones of grain and other food products. As of 22 January, the total tonnage of grain and other foodstuffs exported from the three Ukrainian ports was 18,330.360 tones and 1,336 voyages were enabled.