Crew of struck ship recounts moments of terror: 'Their goal was a massacre'

The Ro-Ro ship named Nadezhda, which was carrying thermoking trailers loaded with fresh fruits and vegetables on the Samsun-Russia route, experienced terror as it was exiting Russian territorial waters. Furkan Hardal (28), a crew member who survived the attack with injuries, recounted those horrific moments while undergoing treatment in Samsun.

"First they harassed us, then they targeted us"

Stating that the ship departed from the Russian port around 16:00, Hardal said the real nightmare began around 17:00 when the ship was approximately 25 miles away from land. Noting that the drones initially harassed them by passing at high speed from the left and right, Hardal said, "We realized they were going to hit us when they started passing closer and faster."

"Their goal was not to stop the ship, but to commit a massacre"

Reporting that they received the first blow from the port side (left side) and that a driver was seriously injured in the head, Furkan Hardal said, "After the attack, our emergency lifeboat started to burn; we could not extinguish it. The drones did not hit directly the first time; they first gathered people in one place. They were not trying to stop the ship's operation, but were trying to kill, to commit a mass slaughter and get away with it," he said.

"The living quarters were targeted, the ship turned into hell"

Stating that the living quarters were targeted on the ship, which was hit a total of 6 times, Hardal described the crew's struggle for survival with these words: "When they started hitting the living quarters, we went down to the lower floors, to the sheltered areas. But when they saw everyone together, they attacked there too. I fled to the bow with the chief engineer. As we were trying to close the iron door, the drone exploded right behind me. The pressure dragged me 2-2.5 meters. Oxygen and fire extinguishers started to explode; the ship turned into a 100-meter fireball. You couldn't see a thing."

"There are those with shrapnel in their lungs and those who have lost their sight"

Explaining that the personnel hiding behind the container where the carbon dioxide cylinders were located shielded each other, Hardal stated that those who remained outside suffered severe injuries, adding, "There are those with perforated eardrums, those with shrapnel embedded in their bodies and lungs, and those with severe burns. Some of our colleagues have lost their sense of sight and hearing."

2.5 hours of desperate waiting and escape via the ramp

Stating that they waited to be rescued for about 3 hours after the attack without any intervention being possible, Hardal said they were face-to-face with the danger of blood loss and smoke inhalation. Expressing that the arriving Russian gunboat could not approach the ship, Hardal said, "We had nowhere to get off. We opened the ramp of the middle garage and somehow threw ourselves onto the gunboat. If the drone had entered through the ramp at that moment and blown up the trailers, the ship would have completely exploded," he said.

Providing information about his own health status, Furkan Hardal added that he has serious shrapnel and burn wounds on his legs, and that whether there is any condition preventing him from walking will be determined by the results of the tomography to be taken.

The Ro-Ro ship named Nadezhda was attacked on August 3, approximately 20 miles off the coast of Russia's Novorossiysk Port, and the heavily damaged ship was towed to Samsun Port. The injured crew members were also taken under treatment in Samsun.