Black Sea shipping resumes after Russia-Ukraine attacks; Turkey says vessels moving freely

Shipping through the Black Sea resumed Sunday after concerns over merchant vessel safety prompted restrictions following attacks by Russia and Ukraine.

A Turkish government official said vessels were moving smoothly through the Turkish straits into the Black Sea, according to Reuters.

Ships bound for Russia also began moving again.

Bloomberg, citing vessel-tracking data, reported that the crude tanker Aegean Dream, which had been waiting in nearby waters since Aug. 6, entered the Dardanelles Strait. The container ship Mehmet Kahveci A also passed through the strait that day.

Both vessels were headed to Novorossiysk, Russia's major Black Sea port.

Bloomberg had earlier reported Saturday that Turkey's Directorate General of Coastal Safety had stopped issuing transit permits for some vessels bound for Russia or Ukraine.

The move came in response to a growing number of merchant ship attacks in the Black Sea amid the recent escalation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

On Thursday, a cargo ship owned by a German company was struck by a Russian drone strike in the Black Sea. On Monday, two Turkish merchant vessels departing from Novorossiysk were hit in drone strikes.

Turkey has urged both Russia and Ukraine to halt attacks in the Black Sea and take measures to ensure safe passage for shipping.

Turkish officials, who requested anonymity, said the temporary measures were introduced out of security concerns but that transit through the straits remained possible under the Montreux Convention.

The Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits, signed in 1936, grants Turkey control over the Bosphorus and Dardanelles — the only waterway connecting the Black Sea to the Mediterranean — while guaranteeing free passage for civilian vessels.