ED Shipping halts 19 vessels after 31 sailors lost in Black Sea drone strikes
Maritime risk firm Ambrey attributes 40 of October's 45 attacks to Russia, while Romanian President Nicușor Dan blames Moscow for recent hits off NATO coasts.
By Marco Kapoor ·
Demre İşcen, chief financial officer of Turkey-based ED Shipping, confirmed on Friday that the company has laid up 19 of its 26 vessels. The decision comes as commercial traffic in the Black Sea corridor nears a standstill following a surge in drone attacks. The company is losing millions of dollars each month as it waits for conditions to improve.
The crisis intensified on October 13, when the cargo ship HS Dignity was struck by a sea drone just after 1:30 a.m. local time. The vessel, which had departed Algeria to load grain in Romania, began sinking in heavy swells. Chief Officer Ashraf Mamdouh ordered the 16 crew members, all Syrian or Egyptian nationals, to abandon ship. A second drone then rammed the hull before the lifeboats could fully deploy. Mamdouh is one of five survivors. Eleven crew members are missing, including 18-year-old Hamza Suleiman, who was on his first voyage.
Maritime analysts report nearly 50 commercial vessels have been attacked in the Black Sea this month. Data from risk firm Ambrey indicates more than 500 attacks on commercial vessels occurred in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov this year. Ambrey attributes 40 of the 45 recorded attacks in October to Russia. The Russian Ministry of Defence has acknowledged striking dozens of ships, stating they supported Ukraine's military. Ukrainian officials claim targeted vessels carried stolen grain, military cargo, or fuel. İşcen disputes this characterization for ED Shipping's vessel Circon, which was hit in the Sea of Azov on June 5, killing two crew members.
Recent strikes have occurred in the western Black Sea, off the coasts of NATO members Bulgaria and Romania. A search and rescue operation was underway on Friday for a Comoros-flagged ship hit by drones just outside Romanian territorial waters. One body has been recovered from that incident, and three crew members remain missing. Romanian President Nicușor Dan publicly blamed Russia for the attacks.
The Philippines has barred its citizens from boarding vessels in the northern Black Sea. Khaldoun Nabelsi, head of the Syrian Seafarers Association of the U.K., says he has counted at least 18 Syrian seafarers killed in recent months. He notes that economic pressure forces many sailors to accept the risk. "Nobody is forced to take these jobs, but in other ways you are forced. If you want to work, you have to go," Nabelsi said.
Survivors of the HS Dignity are currently waiting in Bulgaria for new documents to return home. Mamdouh signaled with his phone flashlight from a life raft for four hours before being rescued by the vessel Azov Concord. He says he will not return to the Black Sea. "I will not go back to the Black Sea again. Never," he said.
Hamza Suleiman's father, Basel, says he tried to arrange for his son to leave the ship in Turkey after the Alfa Watan was struck on October 6, leaving ten crew members missing. Suleiman stayed aboard. Mamdouh told the family he last saw Suleiman wearing a life jacket.
