Overview:
The Palau Ship Registry says the tanker James II was no longer registered under the Palau flag when it came under a reported drone attack in the Black Sea, despite vessel-tracking databases continuing to identify it as a Palau-flagged ship.
By: L.N. Reklai
KOROR, Palau — The Palau Ship Registry (PSR) has clarified that the tanker James II, which was reportedly targeted in a drone attack in the Black Sea this week, was no longer registered under the Palau flag at the time of the incident.
The clarification comes after international media reports identified the 150,000-deadweight-ton suezmax tanker as a Palau-flagged vessel following the attack near Turkey’s northern coast on Thursday.
According to the shipping agency Tribeca, the James II was sailing in ballast approximately 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of the Turkeli area in the Black Sea when it was struck in what was described as a drone attack by unknown actors.
The Palau Ship Registry said the vessel had been removed from its registry on May 9, 2026, nearly a month before the reported attack.
“Three days ago, the Palau Ship Registry (PSR) said a suezmax tanker attacked off Turkey is no longer on its books,” the registry noted in a statement addressing media reports that linked the vessel to Palau.
The tanker, built in 2002, was reportedly targeted amid ongoing security risks stemming from the war between Russia and Ukraine. Neither Moscow nor Kyiv immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
Tribeca also reported that two other tankers, the Altura and Velora, both sailing under the Sierra Leone flag and operating in ballast, were reportedly attacked in the same general area while conducting a ship-to-ship transfer operation.
Coastal safety vessels were dispatched to assist the affected ships, and all crew members aboard the three tankers were reported to be in good condition.
Despite the registry’s clarification, vessel-tracking platform MarineTraffic continued to identify the James II as a Palau-flagged vessel as of Friday while showing the ship operating in the Black Sea.
The discrepancy highlights the lag that can sometimes occur between official registry changes and updates reflected in publicly available vessel-tracking databases.
The reported attacks come amid continuing maritime security concerns in the Black Sea, where Russia and Ukraine have repeatedly targeted ports, shipping infrastructure and vessels since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than four years ago.
No injuries were reported in the attacks, and the extent of any damage to the vessels was not immediately known.
