Reporting indicates that the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority reported Bangladesh flagged bulk carrier BANGLAR SAMRIDDHI (IMO9793832) has been struck with a missile at 15:25UTC whilst anchored (anchorage nr. 363) at Olvia port.
The missile was reported to have hit the superstructure of the vessels. Preliminary reporting suggests that no crew members were injured in the incident. There had been concerns for the safety of the 29 Bangladeshi crew members after it was stranded at the port.
Unverified footage has appeared online showing a fire onboard the vessel.
The reporting comes as a total of 7 other commercial vessels have been involved in incidents since Russia invaded Ukraine. Three vessels have been detained, and another four have been struck by missiles, including the YASA JUPITER (IMO9848132) on the 24th of February, and the NAMURA QUEEN (IMO9841299) and the MILLENNIAL SPIRIT (IMO7392610) on the 25th of February.
Dryad Global advice that any vessel currently within Ukrainian Ports should seek to leave immediately if deemed safe to do so. Vessels should ensure they are broadcasting on AIS and clearly state their intentions across VHF. Any vessels challenged by Russian military vessels should comply fully with instructions.
At this time, Dryad Global advice all commercial operators to avoid any transit or operation within the EEZ of Ukraine or Russia, in the vicinity of the Crimean Peninsula within the Black Sea. The Black Sea ports of the Russian Federation are functioning normally. All transits inbound Western terminals should be made out with Ukrainian and Russian EEZ south of the Crimean Peninsula. Commercial operations within the EEZ of Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania remain unaffected at this time however the Romanian Ministry of Defence has also announced that Russian military ships are diverting and stopping commercial ships en-route to Ukrainian ports north of Romania’s EEZ and as such vessels are advised to avoid transiting within 50nm of the NE extremity of the Romanian EEZ.
This post will be updated as we learn more about the incident.