Turkey's General Directorate of Coastal Safety has notified several vessels bound for the Russian port of Novorossiysk that it will not issue permits for passage through the Dardanelles Strait, Bloomberg reported, citing sources. The restrictions follow a series of attacks on civilian shipping in the Black Sea.
Some ships were told the restrictions also apply to routes bound for Ukrainian ports. The strait has not been fully closed: vessels heading to Turkish and Bulgarian ports continued northward through the Dardanelles. Ankara has not publicly announced the restrictions or explained their rationale.
The move comes after Ukrainian drones struck two vessels owned by Turkish companies near Novorossiysk on August 3, wounding four crew members, including three Turkish citizens. On August 7, a drone attacked a Turkish dry cargo ship near the same port.
Russia, for its part, has struck several vessels near Odesa. On August 6, a Guinea-Bissau-flagged dry cargo ship carrying Ukrainian wheat was hit, killing one person and wounding three. On August 7, Bild reported an attack on a German cargo vessel sailing under a Liberian flag.
Turkey's Foreign Ministry on August 4 urged Russia and Ukraine to take measures to ensure shipping safety, warning that escalation would have negative consequences, including for food security.
Ukraine has intensified attacks on ships in the Black and Azov seas in recent months. According to the Ukrainian Armed Forces' Unmanned Systems Forces command, between July 6 and August 8, Ukrainian forces attacked 84 vessels in the Black Sea and 134 in the Azov Sea. In July, wheat prices rose to a two-year high amid the attacks.