An oil tanker named Qendil, part of the Russian shadow fleet, ran aground off Bozcaada Island, near Turkey, while sailing from Aliaga to Yalova.

The incident happened on Sunday, and Turkish authorities immediately sent emergency tugboats KURTARMA-10 and KURTARMA-16 to help refloat the tanker.

The 249 m vessel was empty when it ran aground.

Before this incident, the Oman-flagged tanker suffered damage from a Ukrainian drone strike over 2000 km away from the border of Ukraine.

During that time, the tanker was off Libya and was sailing from India’s Sikka Port to Ust Luga in Russia.

An investigation has begun to determine whether the tanker ran aground solely due to bad weather or because of the damage it sustained earlier.

Security measures have been increased, and maritime traffic is being maintained in a sustained manner.

Qendil is also a symbol of a dangerous, ageing fleet which operates illegally, without proper safety measures, with questionable insurance practices, only so Russia can continue to export oil, despite the international sanctions put to curtail funding for its military actions against Ukraine.

In 2024 and the beginning of 2025, Ukraine increased its attacks on the Russian oil terminals and ports.

As 2025 ended, attacks expanded to tankers sailing in the Black Sea and oil rigs in the Caspian Sea.