New Drone Attack on Oil Tanker at CPC Terminal Halts Loading

MOSCOW, July 20. /TASS/. The Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) has reported a new drone attack on an oil tanker at its terminal near Novorossiysk, forcing it to once again halt the loading of crude oil.

By striking the CPC, the Kiev regime seeks to further destabilize the situation on global oil markets, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova noted in a commentary.

TASS has collected the key facts about the incident.

About attack

On July 20, 2026, a civilian marine tanker was attacked again at the CPC Marine Terminal, the company reported.

The terrorist attack by air drone was made on tanker Nelsa, which was under loading at SPM-1, according to the report.

The company resumed loading of oil in the evening of July 19 following the previous attack on its terminal but halted it again after a drone attack on the tanker near the facility on July 20.

Consequences

As a result of the starboard aft body being hit, a fire broke out on the deck and in the tanker compartments between the superstructure and the engine and boiler space.

The fire was extinguished within a few hours.

The tanker remained afloat, the consortium said.

Oil spill and its igniting in tanks was prevented, according to the report.

The international crew of 22 people were evacuated on the CPC tugs, except the master and the chief mate.

Reaction

The Ukrainian army continues its attempts to inflict irreparable damage on the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, having attacked its infrastructure for the fifth time, according to a commentary by Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

Russia strongly condemns Ukrainian terrorist attacks on CPC facilities, according to the commentary.

Moscow calls on the international community to provide a commensurate assessment of the Ukrainian terrorist attacks on CPC facilities, a war crime committed by the Vladimir Zelensky regime, the commentary said.

By striking the CPC, the Kiev regime seeks to further destabilize the situation in global oil markets, according to Zakharova.

Kazakhstan’s Energy Ministry has confirmed a drone attack on the tanker Nelsa at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium’s terminal in the Black Sea.

The Ukrainian army’s attacks on the CPC whose terminals have been damaged by Ukrainian UAVs for the second consecutive day, affect US economic interests and pose a threat to international trade, Sergey Altukhov, deputy chairman of the State Duma’s Economic Policy Committee, told TASS.

Attacks on the CPC offshore terminals are acts of economic and environmental terrorism, he noted.

Previous attacks

On July 19, during loading operations at the single point moorings SPM-1 and SPM-2, two sea tankers, Asia and Nisson Ios, came under a targeted attack with unmanned aerial vehicles.

The oil loading was stopped.

No oil spill occurred, the consortium said.

As a result of the attack a fire broke out on the tanker Asia, which was extinguished with participation of a CPC emergency response support team.

On July 17, the oil tanker Nordic Zenith was damaged by two UAV strikes and caught fire while approaching the CPC Marine Terminal near Novorossiysk, with the fire extinguished by the crew.

About CPC

The Caspian Pipeline Consortium is the largest route for transporting oil from the Caspian region to global markets.

The 1,511 km long main pipeline connects oil fields in Western Kazakhstan with Russia’s Black Sea coast where oil is loaded onto tankers via the CPC’s marine terminal.

Among CPC shareholders are Russia (via Transneft), Kazakhstan (via KazMunayGas), structures of Chevron, Lukoil, ExxonMobil, a joint venture of Rosneft and Shell.