A Turkish-owned tanker anchored off Senegal was hit by four external explosions late on 27 November, forcing the crew to send a distress signal. However, everyone on board was rescued safely, and no pollution has been reported.

The tanker, Mersin, began flooding in its engine room after seawater entered through the damaged area.

Besiktas Shipping, the Istanbul-based manager of the vessel, said the blasts happened at around 23:45 UTC while the Panama-flagged tanker was anchored near Dakar.

The company said the situation was brought under control soon afterwards, confirming that all crew members were safe, the ship was stable, and it was not posing any danger to other vessels or the environment.

Senegal launched an immediate emergency response. The Senegalese Navy, the National Maritime Affairs Agency and the Port Authority of Dakar worked together to send tugboats and specialised teams to the tanker.

Authorities said the entire crew was evacuated without injuries, and an anti-pollution boom was placed around the vessel as a precaution while checks were carried out.

Senegal’s port authority later said the tanker had taken on significant water but was stabilised with constant tug assistance.
The priority is sealing the hull breaches to restore watertight integrity. After that, cargo transfer operations will begin to avoid destabilising the vessel while the water is pumped out.

The cause of the explosions is still unknown. Shipping analytics firm Kpler reported that the Mersin was carrying gasoil and had called at Russian ports several times this year.

Although the tanker has previously transported Russian oil, there is no sign that this incident is linked to Ukraine.

The explosions came a day before Ukrainian naval drones struck two empty, sanctioned tankers in the Black Sea as they headed to a Russian port to load oil. A Ukrainian official said Ukraine was trying to put pressure on Russia’s oil industry.

The Dakar incident is the third case in three days involving vessels that have carried Russian petroleum, although responsibility for the other incidents has not always been confirmed.

Besiktas Shipping, which is also listed as the vessel’s owner in the Equasis database, said it is fully cooperating with insurers and Senegalese authorities and supporting the technical and forensic investigations into what happened.

The Mersin is an oil and chemical tanker built in 2009. It has a deadweight capacity of 50,138 tonnes and measures 183.09 metres in length and 32.2 metres in width. Its draught at the time was 13.048 metres.

Investigations into the explosions are ongoing.

Reference: Reuters