On the evening of 21 January, a Ukrainian drone strike targeted the Taman oil and gas port at the entrance to the Sea of Azov, near the Crimea Peninsula. The attack resulted in significant damage and casualties.

Damage and Casualties

The Ukrainian military reported direct hits on petrol storage tanks, with released images showing a large black spot on the ground from likely burning oil products. The regional governor stated the attack caused a fire in four tanks, requiring 97 firefighters and 29 units of equipment to extinguish. Initial reports of two port worker deaths were later updated to three fatalities. An additional eight people were injured and hospitalized with injuries of moderate severity.

Target and Perpetrator

The strike was carried out by drones from Ukraine's Security Service Special Operations Center. This follows a previous attack on the same port on 21 December, which damaged the berth, a pipeline, and ships. The Taman transshipment complex, operated by Tamanneftegaz, is a major Black Sea hub with a storage capacity exceeding 1 million cubic metres for petroleum products and liquefied gas. It is a key export terminal for oil, gas, ammonia, grain, and coal.

Broader Context: Seafarer Rights

The report highlights a related issue concerning seafarer safety and rights in the Black Sea war zone. In a specific incident, five crew members of the Chinese-owned tanker Elbus attempted to assert their legal right under the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) to not sail into a high-risk area. The MLC entitles seafarers to repatriation if a ship heads towards a war zone to which they do not consent. However, only two of the five were allowed to disembark before the vessel proceeded. Union officials cite this as an example of the regular flouting of seafarers' rights, with one inspector noting that around one-third of such disembarkation requests for the Black Sea are ignored, leaving crews traumatized by drone attacks.