Ukraine attacked a small service ship involved in planned repair works at the key CPC oil terminal in the Black Sea, a person with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg. The vessel, identified by Ukraine’s navy as the Nefrit, had almost completed works at one offshore mooring and was set to start replacing equipment at another when it was struck, according to the report. Ukraine’s Military Navy Forces said its sea drone hit the Nefrit near Russia’s Black Sea port of Sochi, stating on Telegram that a powerful explosion and smoke were recorded in the area of the ship. Kyiv’s forces said the vessel had supported Russia’s oil and gas operations, serviced offshore facilities, transported cargo and personnel, and performed underwater technical work, thereby helping finance Moscow’s war effort.
The strike puts the scheduled repair works in limbo and raises fresh uncertainty over the terminal’s future crude-loading capacity, the source said. CPC’s press office declined to comment on the ongoing work of any of its contractors when asked whether the Nefrit had been operating on the consortium’s behalf. The facility, which normally loads crude from two of its three offshore moorings with a third held as backup, has been closely watched following repeated disruptions in July as Ukraine and Russia intensified strikes against each other in the Black Sea. One of the terminal’s moorings was damaged in a November 2025 attack and was only replaced earlier this year, with Kazakhstan’s Energy Ministry saying in late August that it had expected all three moorings to be operational this month.
Source: gCaptain (Bloomberg) — https://gcaptain.com/ukraine-attacks-ship-used-to-repair-key-black-sea-oil-moorings/
Tags: Black Sea, CPC Terminal, Kazakhstan Oil, Ukraine-Russia War
