The captain of the Turkish LPG tanker Orinda ignored warnings to leave the berth ahead of a Russian drone strike on Izmail port in Ukraine’s Odesa region, Ukrainian Navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk said on the “My-Ukraine” TV program. During the attack, the vessel was hit by a Russian drone and caught fire.
“Unfortunately, not all captains follow safety instructions,” Pletenchuk said. “When a warning was issued to leave the immediate berth area, it was simply ignored in this case. The same happened with two other vessels affected by the strike. The rest of the ships followed instructions and suffered no damage.”
The incident occurred on the night of 16–17 November. The Orinda, offloading approximately 4,000 tons of liquefied gas, burned after the gas transfer equipment ignited. All 16 crew members were safely evacuated, and Ukrainian authorities reported that the fire was fully extinguished on 18 November.
Andriy Klymenko, Head of the Black Sea Research Institute, expressed the opinion that the Orinda was likely deliberately targeted. Unlike major ports in the Odesa region, where AIS transmitters on vessels were turned off after a series of air attacks in 2023, no such precautions were observed in the Danube ports. This indicates that Russian planners would have known the Turkish LPG tanker – a vessel carrying highly dangerous cargo – was berthed at Izmail. Klymenko noted that the strike likely aimed to warn the Turkish merchant fleet against transporting goods to or from Ukraine.
