Attack on Tuapse: Russians redirect tankers to another port

The number of ship calls to the port of Tuapse, where Ukrainian drones previously attacked a marine oil terminal, has halved over the past day.

Source: Novaya Gazeta Europe, a Russian socio-political newspaper

Details: In the past 24 hours, three vessels entered the port of Tuapse – this is half the average daily reception capacity of the port, notes Novaya Gazeta Europe, which analysed data from the VesselFinder service.

At least one oil tanker entered the port, and another tanker left it. According to the port's schedule, two more vessels may enter Tuapse by the end of the day, including a cargo ship from Istanbul.

After the drone attack, oil tankers and other vessels have likely been redirected to the port of Novorossiysk, the newspaper suggests.

"In the past 24 hours, activity has increased in the port of Novorossiysk, which is located approximately 160 km from Tuapse," Novaya Gazeta Europe notes.

Twenty-six vessels entered that port – about 20% more than in previous days. It is expected that over the next day, Novorossiysk will receive roughly the same number of vessels, mainly cargo ships, oil tankers and container ships.

On the night of 19-20 April, Ukrainian drones attacked the marine oil terminal in Tuapse. Ukraine's General Staff reported on the attack on the Tuapse oil refinery, which forms a single production complex with the marine terminal.

"After this, reports of an 'oil rain' appeared on social media. Classes in schools and kindergartens in Tuapse were cancelled," the outlet notes.

Meanwhile, Russia's Federal Service for the Oversight of Consumer Protection and Welfare (Rospotrebnadzor) reported that it has not found any concentration of harmful substances in the air. As reported by the Russian media outlet ASTRA, the fire at the port is still being extinguished.

It took three and a half days to extinguish the fire at the marine oil terminal after the 16 April attack, and the blaze was finally put out on 19 April. However, the following day, 20 April, the Armed Forces of Ukraine struck again, and a new fire broke out.

Background:

• The Tuapse oil refinery in Russia's Krasnodar Krai has once again been struck by Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces, Special Operations Forces and Defence Intelligence (DIU). Hits were recorded on the tank farm, resulting in a fire at the facility.
• On 17 April, it was reported that the port in the city of Tuapse had been burning for more than a day, with the fire's plume stretching for hundreds of kilometres.
• Videos and photos showing the fire and thick smoke rising from the oil refinery in Tuapse were posted on social media. Local authorities reported a drone attack.

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