The Sig, and its owner, Transpetrochart, were placed under the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions in 2019 for supplying jet fuel to Russian forces in Syria[2] and is sanctioned by the US Department of Treasury under Ukraine/Russia-Related Sanctions Regulations UKRAINE-EO13685 which relates to blocking property of certain persons and prohibiting certain transactions with respect to the Crimea Region of Ukraine.[3]
On 5 August 2023 the tanker was reported to have been the target of a naval drone attack by Ukrainian forces in the Black Sea 17 kilometres (11 mi) south of the Crimean Bridge which damaged the engine room on the starboard side.[4] The drone carried 450 kilograms (990 lb) of TNT and left a 1 by 2 m (3 ft 3 in by 6 ft 7 in) hole in the side of the ship, partly below the waterline.[5] The Russian media company TASS reported that the vessel was afloat and was being assisted by two tugboats.[4] The tanker was not carrying any cargo at the time of the attack.[6]
A video of the ship in dry dock shows the hole below the waterline to be much larger than the initial assessment.[7]
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