Overview
- KazMunayGaz said the tankers Matilda and Delta Harmony were struck near Novorossiysk, reporting no crew injuries and preliminary findings that both ships remain seaworthy.
- Officials and agency sources said cargo-handling gear was damaged on both vessels and a fire on Delta Harmony was quickly extinguished.
- Reuters sources indicated the total number of ships hit could be as high as four, naming Freud and Delta Supreme, though that wider damage has not been confirmed.
- Matilda was chartered by Kazakhstan’s Kazmormortransflot to load crude on January 18, and both vessels were queued to lift Kazakh oil linked to the Tengizchevroil and Karachaganak consortia.
- Kazakhstan’s energy authorities are assessing damage, the KTK operator declined comment, and the incident follows a late‑November strike that disabled one of the terminal’s offshore loading units.