A significant fire erupted aboard a Turkish car ferry anchored in the Ukrainian port city of Odesa on Friday, following a reported strike.
Cenk T, the vessel’s operating company, confirmed the incident, stating it occurred at approximately 16:00 local time (14:00 GMT), shortly after the ferry docked at the Chornomorsk port.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has attributed the strike to Russia, which has not yet issued a statement regarding the matter.
The incident transpired hours after Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan conveyed to Russian President Vladimir Putin the potential benefits of a limited ceasefire for energy facilities and ports. Russia has thus far resisted all ceasefire appeals.
Moscow has previously threatened to sever “Ukraine off from the sea” in response to Kyiv’s maritime drone attacks on Russia’s “shadow fleet” tankers, vessels believed to be instrumental in oil exports and a key revenue source for the ongoing conflict.
Cenk Denizcilik, the owner of the cargo ship operating on the Karasu-Odesa route across the Black Sea, stated on Friday that the vessel was transporting “essential food supplies” when it was struck shortly after anchoring at the Ukrainian port city.
According to the company’s statement, emergency response protocols were immediately initiated, involving the vessel’s crew, the port fire brigade, and assisting tugboats, following the outbreak of a fire on the forward section of the ship.
“At this stage, there are no reports of casualties or injuries among the crew,” the statement added.
Video footage depicting the aftermath of the incident, shared on President Zelensky’s Telegram account, shows crews engaged in efforts to extinguish the significant blaze on the vessel.
Condemning a series of missile attacks carried out by Russia on the Odesa region the previous night, the Ukrainian leader accused Moscow of targeting the civilian Turkish ship, asserting that it “could not have any military meaning.”
Turkey’s foreign ministry emphasized the necessity of reaching an agreement that would guarantee “the security of shipping and suspending attacks against energy and port infrastructure in order to prevent escalation in the Black Sea.”
“We once again underline the importance of urgently ending the war between Russia and Ukraine,” the ministry stated.
Turkey has maintained relations with both warring countries since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine commenced in February 2022.
The nation also controls the Bosphorus Strait, a crucial waterway for the transportation of Ukrainian grain and Russian oil to the Mediterranean Sea.
Russia conducted a subsequent series of strikes on Odesa later in the evening, resulting in damage to the port infrastructure, according to the region’s head of administration.
“[This] emphasises the deliberate nature of enemy strikes on the civilian infrastructure of the region,” Oleg Kiper wrote in a Telegram post.
Friday’s strikes resulted in power outages for thousands of homes in Odesa.
These events unfold as US President Donald Trump appears increasingly frustrated with the slow progress his administration is making in securing a resolution to the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
Despite Washington’s recent diplomatic efforts, Kyiv and Moscow have rejected key components of the Trump administration’s proposal.
While Ukraine insists on security guarantees from the US and Europe as a prerequisite for any cessation of hostilities, Russia continues to demand territorial concessions, a demand that Kyiv has resisted.
Recent reports indicate that Russia has been making incremental gains on the ground.
However, claims of Russian control over key hubs, such as the strategically important town of Pokrovsk, a vital point on a major road and rail artery in the eastern Donetsk region, are being refuted by Ukrainian authorities.
In a show of defiance on Friday, President Zelensky posted a video of himself in Kupyansk, a location that Moscow claimed to have captured last month.
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