Cook Killed in Drone Strike After Surviving First Attack

Two Attacks, One Fatal Outcome in the Black Sea

A tragic sequence of drone strikes off Novorossiysk has left one seafarer dead and eight others injured, according to a report by The Maritime Executive citing Turkish media. The victim, ship’s cook Ilker Lazoglu, survived the first attack on his vessel only to be killed days later aboard the ship that had rescued him.

On August 18, the Turkish-owned, San Marino-flagged freighter Necibe (IMO 9548732) was struck by Ukrainian drones while loading wheat near Tuapse. All 18 crew abandoned ship without injury and were picked up by the Turkish-owned ro/ro vessel Ural (IMO 7725386), an older ship registered in Cameroon.

A Second Strike, No Second Escape

Three days later, on August 21, while the Ural remained in the area, it too came under drone attack. This time the outcome was far worse: eight crew members were wounded and Lazoglu, the 47-year-old cook who had just escaped the first strike, was fatally injured before he could reach medical care.

According to the report, Lazoglu’s uncle told a Turkish newspaper that his nephew had called after the first attack to reassure family that he was safe and awaiting rescue. Days later, the uncle received a call informing him that the Ural had also been struck and that Lazoglu had been seriously hurt. He died before treatment could be given. He is survived by two young daughters.

The Ural has since returned to Turkey to disembark survivors and repatriate Lazoglu’s remains.

Turkish Coasters Caught in the Crossfire

The incident underscores the exposure faced by Turkish-flagged and Turkish-owned shipping operating in the Black Sea. Small Turkish coasters handle a large share of regional cargo movements, serving ports on both the Russian and Ukrainian sides of the conflict, and vessels flying the Turkish flag or under Turkish ownership have reportedly been struck by both belligerents, with multiple fatalities recorded.

Ukraine has repeatedly cautioned shipping companies against calling at Russian Black Sea ports, framing the entire area as inherently dangerous. A Ukrainian ambassador quoted in the report stated that civilians are not deliberately targeted but are unfortunately caught up in the conflict, and stressed that shipowners must factor in the risks of operating in what is no longer a safe maritime zone.

What This Means for Owners and Managers

This case is a stark illustration of why risk assessment for Black Sea and Russian port calls cannot be treated as a one-time decision made before a voyage begins. A vessel that has already been damaged, or one sent to assist a stricken ship nearby, can find itself back in the target zone within days — as happened here when the rescuing vessel remained in the area and was struck itself.

For ship managers and charterers with exposure to this trade, the incident raises hard operational questions: how rescue and salvage vessels should be routed away from an active strike zone once a casualty has occurred, how quickly crews should be evacuated from the wider area rather than simply transferred to another nearby ship, and how war-risk protocols account for the compounding danger of secondary strikes. Condition and safety surveys, along with pre-voyage risk briefings, increasingly need to incorporate real-time conflict-zone intelligence rather than static geographic exclusion zones, since the danger clearly does not end once a crew has abandoned a stricken vessel. Owners trading in or near contested waters should also review emergency response plans to ensure that rescue vessels are not left loitering in an active strike corridor longer than absolutely necessary.

The human cost in this case — a seafarer who survived one attack only to die in another days later — is a sobering reminder that in active conflict zones, safety cannot be assumed simply because an initial danger has passed.

Reviewed by Ibrahim Halil Ceylan, Marine Surveyor at Apeks Marine.