Turkish Fishing Vessel Sunk After Apparent Black Sea Attack, One Dead

A Turkish-flagged fishing trawler sank in the northern waters of the Black Sea on Friday, June 5, following an apparent attack that left one mariner dead and four others wounded.

Rescue operations and casualties

According to an official statement released by the Turkish Coast Guard Command, the fishing vessel Duru 67 “came under attack” while operating west of the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Sevastopol. The brief military dispatch did not provide immediate details regarding the perpetrator of the strike or the specific type of weaponry utilized to destroy the vessel.

Following the impact, five wounded Turkish sailors were successfully evacuated from the water by a secondary commercial trawler, the Burak Kaya. However, one of the heavily injured mariners succumbed to his wounds while the rescue ship was en route back toward the Turkish coastline.

To expedite emergency medical interventions, a Turkish Coast Guard vessel carrying a dedicated trauma team intercepted the Burak Kaya approximately 213 kilometers (132 miles) north of the Turkish port of Inebolu. The remaining four survivors were transferred to the military cutter for immediate triage. Following a 15-hour return voyage across the Black Sea, the wounded men were transferred to a provincial hospital in the capital of the Kastamonu province.

Fevzi Yavuzyilmaz, the director of the Kastamonu Provincial Health Directorate, confirmed that the crew members had sustained extensive shrapnel injuries. Yavuzyilmaz noted that medical staff on board the coast guard cutter were forced to perform an emergency surgical operation at sea to stabilize one of the victims.

Other Topics of Interest

Five Azerbaijanis Killed In Azov Sea Drone Strike As Moscow Blames Kyiv

Five Azerbaijani citizens were killed and three injured in a drone strike on cargo vessels in the Sea of Azov, Azerbaijan said on Friday. Russia blamed Ukraine, while Kyiv said its drones hit ships carrying “illegal cargo” in occupied Ukrainian ports, without addressing reported casualties or confirming the deaths.

“Two of our patients have relatively minor injuries, while two others are in somewhat more serious condition,” Yavuzyilmaz told reporters.

A maritime attrition

The destruction of the Duru 67 arrives amid a prolonged, multi-year campaign targeting commercial, civilian, and logistics vessels transiting the Black Sea. While the Turkish fishing boat was operating near occupied Crimea, parallel strikes have repeatedly occurred closer to Turkey’s northern territorial limits.

Just months prior, on March 26, three tankers linked to Russias unflagged “shadow fleet” – the James II, Altura, and Velora – were hit by explosive drones near the Turkish district of Turkeli, prompting similar coast guard deployments. Ukraine’s Military Intelligence (HUR) later confirmed those operations were designed to disrupt the opaque network of aging tankers used by Moscow to circumvent international oil sanctions and generate state revenue.

Furthermore, historical tracking logs indicate a pattern of high-seas sabotage impacting Turkish maritime interests. In late 2025, multiple shadow fleet vessels operated by Turkish shipping companies, including the Midvolga 2 and the Mersin, were struck by Ukrainian long-range aerial and Sea Baby naval drones.

While previous operations primarily focused on unflagged merchant vessels transporting Russian petroleum products or sunflower oil, the fatal strike on the Duru 67 underscores the persistent danger facing civilian crews navigating the active northern theater of war.