Greek tanker Skiros attacked in Black Sea: It had Russian oil from Novorossiysk on board – Bloomberg
The oil tanker Skiros, operated by a Greek company, was attacked in the Black Sea. It had been loaded with Russian oil at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal near Novorossiysk.
Bloomberg reported this, citing sources; Censor.NET informs.
Details of the incident
The Skiros tanker can carry approximately 1 million barrels of oil. The Caspian pipeline primarily transports Kazakh oil, but this time the cargo was of Russian origin. The vessel was attacked near the terminal on August 16.
Context of the agreements
In early August, Ukraine agreed not to attack CPC infrastructure or non-Russian vessels heading to the marine terminal, provided that the vessels were not subject to other Ukrainian sanctions and were not carrying Russian cargo. Oil of Russian origin typically accounts for between 5% and 10% of the consortium’s exports.
Consequences
The Athens-based company operating the Skiros said that no one was injured in the incident and no pollution was recorded. The vessel’s owners were informed of the attack.
Russia’s "shadow fleet"
- Russia’s "shadow fleet" consists of dozens or even hundreds of mostly ageing tankers that Russia uses to circumvent Western sanctions on oil sales. Such vessels are usually registered under the flags of third countries (including Gambia, Panama, Liberia, etc.) to conceal their real owners through complex corporate chains and often switch off their automatic identification systems to make their routes more difficult to monitor. A significant proportion of the shadow fleet is under EU, UK or US sanctions. Ukrainian forces repeatedly attacked such tankers in the Black Sea throughout 2025 and 2026.
