The tankers were anchored and awaiting the loading of crude oil at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) marine terminal off Novorossiysk when the incident occurred.
According to reports from the Greek maritime safety and risk management company Diaplous, the three ships that have so far gathered the most confirmed evidence of involvement in the incident are MT MATILDA, MT DELTA HARMONY and MT DELTA SUPREME.
The TMS Tankers ship Freud is no longer included in the confirmed hit reports.
The MT Matilda (IMO 9407457), a tanker operated by Thenamaris and flying the Maltese flag, was reportedly struck while at anchor in the CPC waiting area.
No official estimate of the extent of the damage has yet been made public.
The MT DELTA HARMONY (IMO 9408463), flagged in Liberia and managed by Delta Tankers, was also reportedly hit by drones, with reports of a fire, which was however immediately extinguished, allowing the ship to continue its course. Despite this, there are no officially confirmed reports of damage, casualties, or environmental pollution.
The MT Delta Supreme (IMO 9585895), which is also managed by Delta Tankers, has been added to the same reports as the third tanker that was allegedly hit in the waiting area at sea.
In this case too, details of the type of drone, the point of impact and the extent of the damage remain unconfirmed.
The common denominator in all three cases is the serious information gaps: it is not clear whether it was an aerial UAV, a surface USV or a combination of means, nor whether there was an engagement of tugs, movement of moorings or suspension of loading by the competent authorities.
The attacks come at a particularly sensitive time for the region's energy supply chain.
In early January, Kazakhstan's production suffered a significant decline, with major US oil companies already facing serious difficulties in transporting crude through Russian infrastructure due to winter storms and damage from an earlier Ukrainian drone attack on critical facilities.
Shipping agents warn that the escalation of such incidents in the Black Sea could lead to an increase in both freight rates and insurance premiums for ships loading at Russian terminals, through which more than 2% of the world's crude oil production passes.
The picture that is emerging is no longer one of an isolated incident, but of a dangerous new normal for shipping and energy security in the Black Sea.
Source: A European Perspective, ERTNews
Originally published by ERTNews Editorial Team on 13 January 2026 22:46