Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin
[ColonelCassad] At night, south of the Kerch Strait, a Ukrainian maritime drone crashed into a Russian tanker Sig.
Since the tanker was empty, there was no oil spill. However, the tanker received a hole and water began to flow inside. The vessel lost its course due to flooding of the engine room. There were no dead.
Now work is underway on the lining of the patch. There is no threat of sinking the ship.
The tanker is relatively new - launched in 2014. Displacement 8,200 tons.
In the light of such attacks, in addition to attacks on the enemy’s port infrastructure, it would be appropriate to start destroying Ukrainian ships remaining in the ports of Odessa and Izmail. There are all possibilities for this.
You can also complain about our lagging behind NATO in the development of maritime drones, they would now be a great addition to attacks on coastal infrastructure.
From the point of view of protective measures, it is necessary to strengthen the protection of harbors and external roads, to conduct more active training of personnel (we have been doing this in Sevastopol for many months now). It is also necessary to increase the number of boats + patrol aircraft. The adversary is obviously using NATO technical intelligence to search for vulnerabilities and seeks to switch directions of attacks to achieve at least some effect. We, as usual, have a rather slow reaction, when they begin to intensify defensive measures after successful attacks by the enemy, and not before.
More from regnum.ru
Rosmorrechflot reported on the condition of the Sig tanker attacked by a drone
The tanker "Sig", which received a hole as a result of an attack by a Ukrainian naval drone in the Kerch Strait, remains afloat. It will be repaired after the delivery of the necessary materials, the press service of Rosmorrechflot reported on August 5.
“The lined vessel is afloat, there is no water entering the emergency vessel (AS), the engine compartment is battened down, there is no environmental pollution,” the report says.
The department added that everything is in order with the crew. Water from the tanker is pumped out. Vessels of the Azovo-Chernomorsky branch of the Maritime Rescue Service provide safe mooring and work.
A raid diving boat with a diving station, equipment and specialists arrived at the tanker. It is expected that by the end of the day, divers will inspect the underwater part of the vessel, which will make it possible to draw up a plan to eliminate the damage.
Repairs will be carried out on August 6 after the delivery of all materials necessary to seal the hole.
Earlier, Rosmorrechflot reported damage to the Sig tanker on the southern approach to the Kerch Strait. As IA Regnum reported , the ship was attacked, presumably, by a Ukrainian naval drone. A hole was formed on the tanker in the area of the engine room, none of the crew was injured. Vessels of the Maritime Rescue Service were sent to the scene.