Large fire burns on tanker near Russian Black Sea port of Sochi

A large fire broke out on a ship near the Russian Black Sea port of Sochi on Tuesday evening, sending a thick column of black smoke over the city, Croatian outlet Index.hr reported.

The vessel was in the sea close to the port, and preliminary reports suggested it was an oil tanker carrying oil or oil products, Index.hr and Greek outlet SigmaLive reported. Some reports said flammable liquid may have spilled into the sea around the ship, causing the fire to spread across the water's surface rather than staying confined to the vessel itself.

Footage shared online showed a long line of flame on the water and a large column of black smoke visible across the city, matching the appearance of burning fuel from a tanker, according to SigmaLive. Russian media reported the fire without confirming its cause, while Ukrainian-aligned social media accounts claimed the tanker had been struck, Index.hr and SigmaLive reported. It has not been officially confirmed what caused the blaze, and no casualties or injuries have been reported.

Earlier reports about the incident mentioned a possible explosion near Sochi port, but it has not been confirmed what exploded or whether an explosion caused the fire, Index.hr said. Russian authorities have not issued an official statement on the cause, scale or the firefighting response under way.

The incident follows a Ukrainian naval drone strike on the port area on 3 September, which Ukraine's navy said hit the support vessel Nefrit, and two fires at a fuel depot near the city's airport on 4 and 7 September, according to Index.hr. It has not been confirmed whether Tuesday's fire is linked to those earlier incidents.

The Sochi fire is the latest in a run of incidents affecting shipping and port infrastructure around the Black Sea, in what Index.hr described as a period of serious disruption for commercial maritime traffic in the western part of the sea. A day earlier, drones struck two commercial ships in Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone, sinking one and setting the other alight, while a separate drone attack sank a Turkish-owned grain ship off Romania's coast, killing two crew members. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said commercial vessels and their crews have repeatedly been targeted in the string of recent attacks.