A large fire broke out on a Turkish car ferry anchored at the Ukrainian port city of Odesa after it was hit in a strike on Friday.
The company that operates the Cenk T confirmed the attack occurred at 16:00 local time (14:00 GMT) shortly after it docked at the Chornomorsk port.
Ukraine's President Volodymr Zelensky has blamed the strike on Russia, which has not commented.
The attack came hours after Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told Russian President Vladimir Putin that a limited ceasefire for energy facilities and ports could be beneficial. Russia has resisted all calls for a ceasefire.
Moscow has threatened to cut 'Ukraine off from the sea' in response to Kyiv's maritime drone attacks on Russia's 'shadow fleet' tankers thought to be used to export oil - and a main source for funding the ongoing war.
Cenk Denizcilik, the company that owns the cargo ship that operates on the Karasu-Odesa route across the Black Sea, stated that it had been carrying 'essential food supplies' when it was hit shortly after anchoring.
Emergency response measures were immediately activated, with the vessel's crew, port fire brigade, and assisting tugboats working together to control the fire that broke out on the forward section of the ship.
No casualties or injuries among the crew have been reported. Video footage shared by President Zelensky shows crews attempting to extinguish the blaze.
While condemning a series of missile attacks carried out by Russia on the Odesa region the night before, Zelensky attributed the civilian-targeted strike on the Turkish ship to Moscow, insisting that the attack had 'no military meaning.'
Turkey's foreign ministry has called for a guarantee of shipping security and a suspension of attacks against energy and port infrastructure to prevent escalation in the Black Sea.
Turkey has sought to maintain relations with both Ukraine and Russia since the latter's full-scale invasion, and controls the Bosphorus Strait, crucial for exporting Ukrainian grain and Russian oil.
This incident is part of a broader pattern of military hostilities affecting civilian shipping in the region, emphasizing the dire impact of the ongoing war.
