Sanctioned Russian Chemical Tanker Damaged By UAF Drones Near The Kerch Bridge In Crimea

AS the result of an attack by maritime drones in the Kerch Strait, the Russian chemical tanker SIG, which was on its way from Turkey, appears to have been damaged.

According to the ‘Caution, News’ Telegram channel, the ship’s engine room has been flooded. The list of the vessel is 1-2 degrees, with no crew members reported to have been injured. Several people are thought to have suffered minor cuts from broken glass though.

In addition to the incident with the tanker, at least one drone was shot down by air defence systems, which reportedly fell in the area of ​​​​the Crimean Bridge.

The drone strike of the tanker caused a detonation, which was seen from the peninsula. This latest incident occurred at a distance of 32 miles from the Kerch Strait while the tanker was at anchorage 471.

Explosions were heard at around midnight this Friday, August 4

Several explosions occurred in the area of ​​​​the Crimean Bridge at around midnight on Friday, August 5. An attack by unmanned boats and aerial drones was reported. Local residents indicated that they had heard a loud explosion in the area of ​​the Yakovenkovo ​​settlement.

Collaborators claimed that three surface drones were allegedly destroyed in the Kerch Strait and reported damage to the bridge itself. A vessel called the ‘Mercury’ is said to have gone to the assistance of the stricken vessel.

A Telegram channel posted audio of the tanker’s crew

Audio of the crew on board the Russian chemical tanker was also published by the ‘Caution, News’ Telegram channel. ‘We can’t move by ourselves without a tugboat. The engine room is flooded and no decision has been made on what to do about this’, they were heard saying.

The voices were heard reporting: ‘We have to go to a factory of some kind. We didn’t decrease anything, it stopped by itself. So much water came in. The ship is in ballast. All the cargo tanks are empty. The ship is afloat. Water came up to the waterline and stopped’.

"We can't move without a tugboat. The engine room is completely flooded."

recorded talk with the crew of russian fuel tanker Sig, which was hit by a water drone

Source: russian telegram channel vchk-ogpu pic.twitter.com/gu4QY9FVKr

— Margo Gontar 🔱 (@MargoGontar) August 4, 2023

Rescue teams were deployed from Novorossiysk to the Kerch Strait area, the Taman Sea Rescue Subcentre informed the Russian news outlet, TASS.

SIG is a commercial tanker that was included in the US sanctions list after the conflict in Ukraine broke out. It was making its way from Turkey but was sailing under the Russian flag.

Several media outlets are claiming this morning that the ship was returning after allegedly delivering stolen Ukrainian aviation fuel from Crimea to Syria, as reported by unian.net.