Tüpraş: Hijacked tanker was carrying oil to Turkey

Tüpraş has issued a statement regarding the incident in which the Marshall Islands-flagged St. Nikolas tanker, owned by the Greek shipping company Empire Navigation, was hijacked.

In the statement released by Tüpraş, it was noted that communication with the Marshall Islands-flagged vessel named St. Nikolas, owned by the Greek shipping company Empire Navigation, was lost off the coast of Oman at approximately 06:30 on January 11, 2024.

The statement said, "The vessel in question is carrying approximately 140 thousand tons of crude oil that we purchased from the Iraqi state oil company SOMO, which had set sail from the Port of Basra to be delivered to our refinery."

Tüpraş stated that refinery operations are continuing as planned and that the incident has no impact on refinery operations. Furthermore, it was emphasized that there are no Turkish crew members on board and that the matter is being followed in cooperation with national and international authorities.

UK Maritime Trade Operations had previously announced that communication with the St. Nikolas vessel was lost after masked individuals boarded the ship off the coast of Oman. The ship's owner, Empire Navigation, stated that the vessel was en route to Turkey after being loaded with oil at Iraq's Basra port and confirmed that the ship had been chartered by Tüpraş.