An Azerbaijani captain was missing after a drone strike hit the Atlas Bey, a cargo ship owned by Turkish company Okean Maritime and sailing under the flag of Tanzania, off Ukraine’s Odesa coast on Tuesday, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry announced on X.
The ministry said 11 crew members were Azerbaijani citizens and that all crew members except the captain had been brought ashore in Odesa. Their condition was satisfactory, it added.
Ukrainian authorities separately reported that Russian forces attacked two merchant vessels sailing under the flags of Tanzania and Liberia through the Black Sea maritime corridor, killing the captain of one vessel and injuring three sailors from a crew of 11. The Ukrainian statements did not identify the dead captain or specify which vessel he commanded.
The attack came as commercial shipping linked to Turkey has faced growing risks in the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov and even farther afield as Russia attacks Ukraine’s ports and Kyiv targets vessels it says support Moscow’s war economy.
On June 22 a Russian drone struck the Victress, a cargo ship owned by a Turkish company and sailing under Panama’s flag, off Ukraine’s Chornomorsk port, killing an Egyptian cook. Eight crew members, including Turkish and Indian citizens, were evacuated on a life raft, while Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said two Turkish citizens were injured.
In December 2025 Russian missile and drone attacks on Chornomorsk and Odesa damaged three vessels owned by Turkish companies, including the Cenk T, which was sailing under the flag of Panama, according to Ukrainian officials and a shipowner. Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said no Turkish citizens were harmed in the Chornomorsk attack and warned that the war was threatening maritime security and freedom of navigation in the Black Sea.
Ukraine has also expanded attacks on vessels tied to Russian oil, fuel and grain logistics. In November 2025 Ukrainian naval drones struck the sanctioned tankers Kairos and Virat near Turkey’s coast as they headed toward Russia’s Novorossiysk port, according to Reuters and Turkish officials. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called attacks on commercial ships in Turkey’s exclusive economic zone unacceptable.
In March an unclaimed marine drone attack struck the ALTURA, a tanker operated by a Turkish company and sailing under Sierra Leone’s flag, in Turkey’s exclusive economic zone after it left Russia’s Novorossiysk port carrying about 1 million barrels of crude oil. Turkey said the 27 crew members were safe and condemned the attack as a threat to life, property, navigation and the environment.
Azerbaijani crews have also been hit in Ukrainian strikes on shipping linked to Russia. Russia accused Ukraine in June of killing Azerbaijani seafarers aboard the Natra and Zircon, two cargo ships Moscow said were traveling from Turkey to the southern Russian city of Rostov. Azerbaijan said at least five of its citizens were killed, while Ukraine said it had struck vessels involved in moving stolen Ukrainian grain and military cargo and fuel.
The pressure on shipping has increased in recent days. Ukrainian drone forces said they had targeted 116 vessels in the Sea of Azov over nine days, a campaign Reuters reported was aimed at disabling Russia’s feeder fleet of smaller tankers and cargo ships. Russia has intensified strikes on Odesa area ports, which handle much of Ukraine’s grain and other cargo, saying the ports were handling military cargo.
Turkish shipping was also affected on the Russian side. The Turkish-flagged chemical and oil products tanker Sabahat Telli sustained fire and impact damage in the Taganrog area of southern Russia, Turkish media reported.