THE Russia-Ukraine war never went away in the Black Sea, but it has heated up significantly in recent weeks. Ukraine has claimed to have hit more than 100 vessels, including many shadow fleet tankers. The numbers are hard to confirm but have clearly been enough to see a response from Moscow.

Russia is said to be behind two attacks off Odesa, one of which, on bulker Golden Leo, killed 10 seafarers.

Ukraine is believed to be behind attacks on tankers loading oil at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium over the weekend, which loads Kazakh oil on to tankers near the Russian port of Novorossiysk.

Hull war premiums are said to have doubled over the past week and are climbing higher still following the CPC attacks.

Both Russia and Ukraine have regularly called for the other to respect freedom of navigation and condemned attacks on civilian vessels, which could amount to war crimes.

But the reality appears to be greater willingness to treat merchant ships as legitimate targets, adding to the omni-crisis surrounding shipping in 2026.

For industry, another set of risks to evaluate, yet more higher premiums to pay, and most importantly, more cases of innocent seafarers paying the ultimate price for a conflict over which they have little say or sway.

Joshua Minchin
Senior reporter, Lloyd’s List

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