RMS Team Arrives in Samsun After Drone Attack in Black Sea

The container ship RMS Team moored at the Turkish port of Samsun after being towed from the Black Sea, where it suffered severe damage from a Ukrainian drone attack on August 21.

The vessel, flying the flag of Barbados and operated by the Turkish firm Akkon Lines, was sailing from Gemlik (Turkey) towards Novorossiysk (Russia) at the time of the impact.

The attack sparked a fire that spread from the accommodation areas and the engine room to the cargo deck. Of the 12 crew members on board, 11 were rescued by a nearby vessel, while one remains missing.

Audiovisual records captured in Samsun show structural deformations and perforations in the hull near the waterline. Despite the severity of the impacts, the 22-year-old vessel did not report any water ingress.

It is worth noting that the Ambassador of Ukraine in Ankara, Nariman Jalilov, was summoned to the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs following two recent incidents involving Ukrainian drones impacting Turkish vessels in the Black Sea.

During the meeting, Turkish authorities conveyed to the diplomat "Ankara's reaction to the recent attacks in question" and delivered "the necessary warnings," according to the state news agency Anadolu.