UKRAINE has launched a drone attack on the Oman-flagged crude oil tanker Qendil (IMO: 9310525) while it was sailing in the Mediterranean, according to Ukrainian media, citing sources from the Ukrainian Security Services.

RBC-Ukraine shared a video of the reported attack at 1100 hrs GMT, showing a hexacopter drone being used in the attack.

According to Lloyd’s List Intelligence vessel tracking, the 2006-built, 115,338 dwt Qendil was heading west in the Mediterranean between Malta and Crete until 2300 hrs GMT on December 18. According to its AIS data, the vessel made a U-turn right before midnight and turned towards the east, changing its destination to Port Said in Egypt.

The reason for the U-turn is unknown. 

A security source told Lloyd’s List that a type of hexacopter drone was launched from a short distance, either from another vessel or from a neighbouring country.

Qendil is sanctioned by the EU and the UK, and is in the Russian shadow fleet*.

Both the Ukrainian media and Reuters cited a SBU source saying that Qendil was hit in waters more than 1,243 miles away from Ukraine, and it caused critical damage, claiming it could not be used for its intended purpose anymore. They also reported that the vessel was empty at the time of the attack.

Security firm Vanguard said the attack on the tanker marked the first confirmed Ukrainian strike this far from the Black Sea theatre.

In a statement, Vanguard said that this development reflected “a stark expansion of Ukraine’s use of uncrewed aerial systems against maritime assets associated with Russia’s sanctioned oil export network”.

Leaving Russia’s Black Sea port Novorossiysk on November 4, Qendil sailed through the Bosphorus and Mediterranean, crossed Suez and finally berthed at Jamnagar port of India and unloaded cargo there on December 1. 

The tanker left the anchorage on the same day and had been sailing towards Gibraltar since then.

Ukrainian National News quoted the source saying it was “an absolutely legitimate target” as the vessel was trying to earn money to use in the war against Ukraine.

“Ukraine will not stop and will strike them anywhere in the world,” the source reportedly said.

A security source told Lloyd’s List that the drone strike far from the traditional Black Sea theatre should be a serious wake-up call for the maritime industry.

“If confirmed, the use of a short-range, vessel-launched or coastal drone platform would mark a significant escalation, not just in capability but in geography, signalling that commercial shipping linked to strategic energy flows may now face risk well beyond declared conflict zones,” the source said.

They added that the assumptions around “safe waters” were increasingly outdated, underscoring the urgent need for dynamic risk assessments.

Ukraine has claimed drone attacks on two Russian shadow fleet tankers in the Black Sea at the end of November, again through the SBU sources. 

This is the first time it is claiming an attack on a vessel in the Mediterranean.

* Lloyd’s List defines a tanker as being part of the Shadow Fleet if it engages in one or more deceptive shipping practices indicating that it is involved in the facilitation of sanctioned oil cargoes from Iran, Russia or Venezuela. Or it is sanctioned for participation in sanctioned oil trades or is sanctioned for links to a company that is sanctioned for facilitating the export of sanctioned oil. Or it participates in a cargo delivery where at some point over the course of the delivery one party in the chain engages in one or more deceptive shipping practices.
Seasearcher subscribers can activate the Shadow Fleet list by clicking the link above.