Shadow Fleet Tanker ‘Qendil’ Runs Aground in Turkey Following Ukrainian Drone Strike

The Russian “shadow fleet” oil tanker Qendil ran aground off Turkey’s Bozcaada island on Sunday while transiting from Alia?a to Yalova, prompting Turkish authorities to dispatch emergency tugboats to the scene.

Turkey’s Directorate General of Coastal Safety reported that the 249-meter-long tanker was empty when it ran aground, and had urgently sent the KURTARMA-10 and KURTARMA-16 tugs to assist the vessel.

The grounding comes just weeks after the Oman-flagged Qendil was damage in a Ukrainian drone attack in the Mediterranean Sea—marking the first time Ukraine has struck a Russian shadow fleet vessel with aerial drones at such a distance from its borders.

The vessel was empty when it was struck by drones in international waters more than 2,000 kilometers from Ukraine around December 19, according to the SBU security service.

The tanker was located off Libya’s coast at the time of the attack, though the exact timing and location were not disclosed by Ukrainian officials. The Qendil had been en route to the Russian port of Ust Luga in the Baltic Sea from the Indian port of Sikka when the strike occurred.

The Qendil is part of Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” — an armada of aging tankers with opaque ownership and questionable insurance that allows Moscow to keep exporting sanctioned oil and financing its war despite Western restrictions.

Ukraine has been attacking Russian oil refineries throughout 2024 and 2025, but notably widened its campaign in the final weeks of 2025, striking oil rigs in the Caspian Sea and claiming credit for sea-drone attacks on three tankers in the Black Sea.

The current grounding off Turkey highlights the ongoing risks facing shadow fleet vessels and commercial shipping from Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine.

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