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Published : 07 Dec 2025, 01:08 AM
Three Bangladeshi sailors are returning home after a Ukrainian naval drone attack left the crude oil tanker MT Kairos severely damaged in the Black Sea.
They are expected to arrive in Bangladesh late Saturday.
One other Bangladeshi sailor has been caught in danger as he attempts to help tow the damaged vessel to shore along with nine crew members from three other countries.
Mahfuzul Islam Plabon, the fourth engineer onboard, told bdnews24.com that the attack destroyed the ship’s engine completely, leaving it without control.
He said the owner decided to pull the vessel towards Turkish waters, prompting him and nine others to board it.
They are still on the vessel. Although it has been brought into Turkish waters, it could not be anchored. Plabon said adverse weather and heavy waves pushed it further until it drifted into Bulgarian waters.
Plabon said they contacted the Bulgarian coastguard but received no assistance. “For two days we have been drifting without control. There is no light because the vessel has no power, our phones are dying, and drinking water is running out,” he said.
He added that the impact of the drone strike had severely damaged the ship. “In this weather, a strong wave could break the vessel apart.”
The Bangladesh Merchant Marine Officers’ Association has reached out to the International Transport Workers’ Federation seeking help to rescue the trapped crew.
The 275m long Chinese vessel MT Kairos was sailing from Egypt’s Suez Port to Novorossiysk, one of Russia’s key ports, to load crude oil.
It came under the Ukrainian naval drone attack at 4:45pm local time on Nov 28 while crossing the Black Sea near Turkish waters.
A massive fire triggered by the strike forced the vessel to be abandoned within two hours.
The Turkish coastguard rescued all 25 sailors onboard, including four Bangladeshis, 19 Chinese crew members, and one sailor each from Myanmar and Indonesia.
The four Bangladeshis -- fourth engineer Plabon, oiler Habibur Rahman, pumpman Asgor Hossain and deck cadet Al Amin Hossain -- were taken to Izmit after the rescue.
The vessel’s operator later decided to repatriate all sailors. Habibur, Asgor and Al Amin were scheduled to return home on Saturday, while Plabon and the nine others remained onboard as the damaged vessel was being moved from the Black Sea.
Asgor, who is from Sandwip in Chattogram, said one Bangladeshi sailor remains on the vessel and will return once it is brought safely to shore.
Plabon said, “We survived the Ukrainian drone attack. We were supposed to return home, but now we are stuck on the vessel risking our lives.”
Sakhawat Hossain, general secretary of the Bangladesh Merchant Marine Officers’ Association, said the owner deployed 10 sailors to bring the damaged vessel to the Turkish coast.
“They are now in danger. The vessel has no control, and I have learnt that the Bulgarian coastguard has not provided help despite requests,” he added.
