By Bosphorus News Geopolitics Desk
Le Parisien, reporting from Samsun, found the damaged Nadezhda and Yaşar sitting in port after the two Turkish vessels were struck by drones earlier this month, while dozens of other ships remained gathered off the city rather than risk the run toward Russian ports. İskender Yağız, president of the local Chamber of Shipping, told the newspaper that 53 vessels had sought shelter in Samsun.
The pressure is showing among the crews still working those routes. One Turkish seafarer told Le Parisien that fear had become widespread aboard his ship and that the crew planned to stop working for at least a week. The newspaper saw a container ship with netting installed as a precaution against drone strikes, and Samsun Shipping said in a statement that a large part of one crew no longer wanted to continue working under current security conditions. Crews on vessels waiting offshore have in some cases been reduced to a skeleton staff.
No side has claimed the attacks
Responsibility remains formally unassigned. No strike has been claimed, and Türkiye has not publicly identified an attacker in any of the recent incidents, although sailors interviewed in Samsun told Le Parisien they blamed Kyiv.
The owner of the MV Reyhan Sarı, struck on July 22 while carrying coal from Taman to Trabzon, is pursuing the matter through international legal channels. T ve O Denizcilik, together with 15 crew members from the ship, is preparing a criminal complaint against Ukraine at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, represented by the Memişoğlu Kurun law firm, according to Turkish maritime trade publication HaberDenizde. Engine room worker Savaş Çakar was killed in the strike and two other crew members were wounded. The complaint reportedly characterizes the attack as deliberate and alleges the use of cluster munitions with armor piercing capability, which the filing argues could amount to a crime against humanity. The claims are the complainants' own characterization. The ICC has not commented on any submission.
Fidan describes a widening threat
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on August 8 that attacks which had initially focused on ports and military vessels were now reaching commercial shipping without distinction, and called for concrete measures to protect navigation in the Black Sea. He did not name an attacker.
Le Parisien also cited Bosphorus News journalist Murat Yıldız, who said Türkiye's effort to maintain balance since the start of the war would become harder to sustain if Turkish citizens kept being targeted.
Strategic Take
The ship buildup in Samsun shows how far the war has begun to affect ordinary commercial activity on Türkiye's own coast. Türkiye's National Security Council has widened its public warnings about the war's spread since January, from the Black Sea alone to the Black Sea and Caspian together by August, without naming Russia or Ukraine as responsible in any of its statements. That restraint has kept Ankara acceptable to both governments as a venue for talks, but it becomes harder to maintain each time a Turkish flagged ship is hit in a Turkish port. The Reyhan Sarı's owner taking the case to the International Criminal Court shows that part of Türkiye's shipping industry is now pursuing its own determination of responsibility instead of waiting on the government.
Sources: Le Parisien, Türkiye's Directorate General of Maritime Affairs, Türkiye's Foreign Ministry, HaberDenizde, Samsun Chamber of Maritime Commerce, Bosphorus News review and reporting.