A TURKISH-owned merchant ship has been hit by a bomb off Odessa.

The 61,078 dwt bulk carrier Yasa Jupiter (IMO: 9848132) was en route to Romanian waters. None of the crew were hurt.

Lloyd’s List Intelligence said the incident probably occurred at about 1820 hrs on February 23 — raising the question of whether the shooting started earlier than reported.

The Turkish Maritime General Directorate tweeted that the ship had not asked for help and was safe. It did not say who was behind the bombing. 

The 2019-built ship’s flag, Marshall Islands, did not respond to a request for comment. Turkish owner Ya-Sa Holding could not be reached.

The industry has scrambled to react to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and ships were warned to leave the area. Ukraine has suspended commercial port operations.

Neptune P2P Group, a security firm, said: “The Russian naval exercises that were a precursor to today’s invasion had already in effect closed Black Sea transit routes to Ukrainian ports.

“However, this announcement will undoubtedly impact commercial sales and the transportation of a number of Ukrainian commodities such as ore, grain and seeds, with subsequent price rises to follow.”

Reuters reported that 18 people were killed in a missile strike in the Odessa region.