ISTANBUL

Türkiye's rescue units rescued all staff of a tanker ship, KAIROS, which caught fire Friday, the Directorate General for Maritime Affairs announced on US social media platform X.

The directorate said the empty KAIROS tanker, en route to the port of Novoroski, Russia, caught fire due to an external factor 28 miles (45 kilometers) off Türkiye's coast.

The evacuation of personnel aboard the KAIROS has been completed by the Directorate General of Coastal Safety.

The Directorate General for Maritime Affairs previously said all 25 crew members on board are in good condition.

Separately, the directorate said a tanker, named VIRAT, was reported to have been hit approximately 35 nautical miles offshore in the Black Sea.

Rescue teams and a commercial vessel were dispatched to the ship, it said, adding that all 20 crew members on board are in good condition.

The directorate later stated that: "There is no fire or emergency aboard the VIRAT vessel, which sustained damage off the Black Sea. The crew has not requested to abandon ship.

"In case of a potential emergency, a tugboat with firefighting and towing capabilities has been dispatched to the area," it said.

Abdulkadir Uraloglu, the transport and infrastructure minister, said on Turkish social media platform NSosyal, following the explosions on the empty oil tankers KAIROS and VIRAT, that operations are being carried out in full coordination with our relevant institutions.

The KEGM-10 and KEGM-9 fast evacuation boats, the tugboat KURTARMA-12, and Emergency Response Vessel NENE HATUN were immediately dispatched, he stressed.

The minister expressed that the 25 crew members on the KAIROS were rescued by the KEGM-10 boat.

The 20 crew members on the VIRAT are reported to be in good health and coast guard teams are responding to the incident.

"We thank the personnel of the General Directorate of Coastal Safety for their professional response, racing against time, and we continue to closely monitor the situation with all our units," he added.