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Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Saturday called for a moratorium on attacks by Russia and Ukraine in the Black Sea after a series of strikes on civilian ships, including Turkish-linked vessels.
Fidan called for "the setting up of a mechanism allowing a moratorium to be declared" in an interview with Turkish news agency Anadolu.
"The conflict has spread across the whole Black Sea," he said.
"To begin with, they targeted the ports and the military ships. Now, they are attacking all commercial shipping without distinction," Fidan added.
He said ships belonging to Türkiye or flying the Turkish flag were among those targeted.
Türkiye had already denounced Black Sea drone attacks on two Turkish civilian vessels earlier in the week, in which some crew members were injured.
Fidan said Türkiye's warnings about attacks affecting Turkish vessels in the Black Sea were "unfortunately" proving correct.
He said the entire Black Sea had increasingly become an area affected by the war.
"At first, they were hitting military ports and military vessels; now they are hitting all commercial vessels without distinction," Fidan said.
"Unfortunately, Turkish vessels, Turkish-owned or Turkish-flagged vessels, are also being affected," he added.
Fidan said foreign-flagged vessels owned by Turkish companies could also be targeted, as could foreign-owned and foreign-flagged vessels carrying Turkish crew members.
He said Türkiye was closely monitoring all such vessels.
Although Turkish vessels make up a relatively smaller proportion of the ships being targeted, Fidan said the situation nevertheless caused concern in Ankara.
He said Türkiye had presented several measures to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and was implementing them.
Fidan said Türkiye had urged both sides to establish a mechanism for a moratorium on attacks, noting that Ukraine had already made a request and that Ankara conveyed it to Russian counterparts.
He warned that both sides were targeting logistics facilities important to each other and described the situation as highly dangerous.
The remarks came after a Turkish-flagged vessel, identified as the MV Gulluk, was reportedly struck by a drone off the Russian port of Novorossiysk, according to maritime monitoring account The Maritime Voice and accounts shared with Türkiye Today by people identifying themselves as relatives and colleagues of crew members.
The reported strike on the Gulluk would be the latest in a series of drone attacks on Turkish-owned or Turkish-flagged commercial vessels transiting the Black Sea and Russian ports in recent months.
Türkiye's Directorate General of Maritime Affairs said the Ro-Ro cargo ship Nadezhda was struck by a drone about 20 nautical miles off Novorossiysk on Aug. 3 while sailing from Novorossiysk to Samsun.
The directorate said three of the vessel's 22 crew members, 13 of them Turkish nationals, were reported to be in serious condition before all were evacuated to Novorossiysk by Russian maritime units.
Türkiye's Foreign Ministry separately said two civilian vessels, the Yasar and the Nadezhda, were attacked after leaving Novorossiysk.
The ministry said it was "deeply concerned about the escalating conflict between Russia and Ukraine in the Black Sea, which is affecting civilian shipping despite our numerous warnings."
Earlier in the same period, the Turkish-flagged bulk carrier Reyhan Sari was struck by a drone while sailing from Russia's Taman port to Trabzon, killing one crew member and wounding three others.
Neither the Ukrainian nor Russian government has commented on the reported attack on the Gulluk specifically.
Ukraine has targeted Russian-flagged vessels and Russia-linked shipping in the Black Sea throughout the war, accusing Moscow of using the waterway to transport sanctioned goods.
Russia has separately struck Ukrainian port infrastructure and vessels, attacks Kyiv has described as war crimes.
Intensifying attacks on ports, grain terminals and commercial ships in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov are also disrupting Russian and Ukrainian grain shipments, fueling concerns over global food security.
Russia is the world's largest wheat exporter, while Ukraine is known as Europe's breadbasket.
Ukraine's grain and oilseed production is expected to rise from 80 million metric tons last year to 81 million this year, with agricultural products making up around 60% of its total exports.
The United Nations (U.N.) said global agricultural markets are beginning to feel the effects of the attacks, calling for efforts to prevent tensions from escalating.
The U.N. World Food Programme warned that Ukrainian grain shipments could be further disrupted if attacks on shipping routes continue, deepening global food insecurity.
Some 35 attacks were carried out against ships in ports, 22 against ships at sea and 67 on port facilities last month, according to Ukraine's Infrastructure Ministry.
Ships in Ukrainian ports were targeted a total of 14 times last year, the ministry said.
Russia's escalating attacks on ports and surrounding infrastructure in the Odesa region are affecting the main route used for Ukrainian agricultural exports, more than 90% of which are shipped through ports in Odesa and the surrounding area.
Ports in Odesa, Chornomorsk and Yuzhny have seen commercial traffic largely come to a halt since the second half of July as security risks increased.
Taras Vysotskyi, Ukraine's agricultural policy and food minister, said shipowners had temporarily suspended sending vessels to the country's Black Sea ports to load agricultural products as of July 22.
He said alternative export routes would not reach full capacity until the end of August.
Vysotskyi said land and river routes, even at full capacity, would not be able to handle half the volume of shipments normally carried through Black Sea ports.
Danish shipper Maersk temporarily suspended its feeder service through Chornomorsk port and is rerouting cargo to Romania's Constanta port. Existing export bookings may be canceled or the loading port may be changed to Constanta.
The Russian Defense Ministry says the targets it struck in attacks on Ukrainian ports and ships were used for military purposes.
Kyiv says a significant portion of the targeted facilities and vessels were used for civilian trade and agricultural exports.
Ukraine has also intensified drone attacks on Russian ports, grain terminals and commercial vessels along the Black Sea and Sea of Azov coasts.
Russia's major grain export terminals at Taman port were reportedly attacked, while some terminals along the Black Sea coast have limited grain intake by land transport because of security risks.
Operations at the Port of Taman were affected by restrictions on ship movements in the Sea of Azov introduced on July 10.
Grain shipments continue from the ports of Novorossiysk and Tuapse, but loading speeds have slowed because of security measures and restrictions.
The nonprofit Rusgrain Union warned that attacks on commercial vessels and port infrastructure threaten Black Sea shipping and that export corridors could close if conditions persist.
Both Moscow and Kyiv deny accusations of targeting civilian ships and port infrastructure, saying they are striking targets linked to military activity.
The Black Sea Grain Initiative was signed in Istanbul in July 2022 by Türkiye, Russia, Ukraine and the U.N. to prevent a potential global food crisis.
While the Black Sea grain corridor was open, more than 1,000 ships delivered around 33 million metric tons of grain to global markets and for humanitarian purposes.
The corridor facilitated Ukrainian grain shipments to global markets and helped ease global food price pressures.
After Russia withdrew from the deal in July 2023, Ukraine established an alternative maritime corridor along the western coast of the Black Sea, close to the territorial waters of Romania and Bulgaria.
However, intensifying attacks on ports, vessels and grain terminals have raised uncertainty over the route's operation and the delivery of this year's harvest, while some shippers have suspended operations.
If tensions in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov continue, grain shipment disruptions could affect prices and lead to supply pressures, especially in African and Middle Eastern countries that rely on imports from the region.
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