Sanctioned tanker hit near Turkey runs aground near Bulgaria
6.12.2025 - 09:33
Bulgaria has sent a helicopter and a boat to rescue the crew of the sunken sanctioned tanker Kairos.
The Bulgarian Ministry of Transport reported this.
The Kairos tanker, which was likely hit by a Ukrainian naval drone, ran aground near the city of Ahtopol on December 5. The Bulgarian government tried to send a helicopter and a boat to rescue the crew, but the operation failed due to a storm.
As of the evening of December 5, the vessel was still aground.
According to Bulgarian media, how the vessel ended up in Bulgarian territorial waters is a separate matter – when the vessel ran aground, the tanker’s crew initially did not respond to attempts to establish contact. Only later did other passing vessels confirm that the Kairos tanker with 10 people on board, which had recently exploded, had run aground in Bulgarian waters.
Later, the Kairos crew contacted the local government and sent a request for evacuation. A border police boat and a Navy helicopter were sent to the tanker. Two tugboats were also ready to join the operation.
The evacuation will continue when the storm at sea subsides.
Recall that on the night of November 28, naval drones hit two Russian tankers, Kairos and Virat, which belong to the so-called shadow fleet. The vessels were heading empty to the port of Novorossiysk and were attacked near the Turkish coast.
