Black Sea ships attacked Crews and causes uncertain

Oct 6

CCTV cites Russia's transport ministry saying a Liberian-flagged tanker caught fire after an unmanned-boat attack off Russia's Black Sea coast on October 6 and all crew were rescued. It then cites Bulgarian Prime Minister Radev saying two foreign-flagged merchant ships were attacked by drones in Bulgaria's Black Sea exclusive economic zone that day; one sank and its occupants were missing. Investigations into both incidents continue, and the origins of the unmanned boat and drones remain unconfirmed. These are separate incidents within one complete brief; CCTV does not assign responsibility.

An oil tanker catches fire off Russia's Black Sea coast on October 6. Vremya names it Aframax Rio and reports Transport Minister Nikitin's emergency task-force meeting, rescued uninjured Indian crew and sufficient response resources. Its preliminary account describes unmanned boats as apparently Ukrainian. CCTV's October 7 brief cites a Liberian-flagged tanker and all crew rescued, while expressly leaving the unmanned boat's origin unconfirmed. TSN's October 7 account locates the still-burning tanker off Sochi, reports smoke, coastal smell and beach closures, and says twenty-three Indian crew were rescued. Its local/social-media sources suggest a Liberian flag and a possible naval/other-drone cause; TSN says up to 100,000 tonnes of oil were bound for India. Vessel naming, quantity and causal claims remain attributed. In these earlier accounts responsibility is unconfirmed, and completed firefighting, a final spill tally or cleanup is not established. Vremya's later October 7 update attributes extinguished open flames to Russia's Transport Ministry. It says twenty-three Indian crew were rescued from the Liberian-flagged India-bound vessel, which it describes as outside Western sanctions, and attributes to Rosprirodnadzor no threat to the coast and no pollutant concentrations above permissible limits in Sochi. The broadcaster alleges Kyiv claimed responsibility and adds political commentary about Trump's earlier shipping warning. These later official assurances and responsibility assertions are not independent verification or a final spill/cleanup tally; earlier still-burning, smell and beach-closure observations remain temporally attributed. CCTV's October 7 China News report adds a ministry account of drones launched from unmanned surface vessels and attributes Ukrainian responsibility to AFP, repeating the rescue of all twenty-three Indian crew. This secondary attribution remains alongside the earlier unresolved-origin qualifications and Vremya's later allegation that Kyiv claimed responsibility. It does not independently settle responsibility or reverse the later flames-out report.