Another blow to the Greek fleet: a drone attacked the New Andros tanker with 2 million barrels of fuel

Another large tanker of Greek shipowners came under attack: VLCC New Andros attacked by drone in Iraqi territorial waters, when there were about 2 million barrels of fuel oil on board.

The incident occurred on September 9 in the Persian Gulf region. According to Reuters, attack confirmed by two Iraqi port officials.

The Iraqi Oil Ministry said the impact caused a fire and minor damage to the hull. At the same time, no cargo leakage was recorded, and all 22 crew members remained alive and unharmed.

According to the Greek Ministry of Shipping, two Greek citizens were among those on board: captain and chief engineer. Both are safe.

The fire was extinguished

After the impact, a fire started on the ship. Iraqi rescue vessels and tugboats were sent to the incident area.

drone attacked the New Andros tanker with 2 million barrels of fuel pic.twitter.com/sQZrJccj40

— Athens News (@russianathens) September 9, 2026

On published Proto Theme The photographs show New Andros, next to which a tug is working, delivering powerful jets of water to the bow and front deck.

The fire was later brought under control and completely extinguished.

According to official data, there was no serious damage to the cargo tanks or leakage of fuel oil.

2 million barrels of Iraqi fuel oil

At the time of the attack, New Andros was transporting or being used to store order 2 million barrels of Iraqi fuel oil.

Reuters, citing Iraqi authorities, reports that the ship was chartered Iraqi Oil Tankers Company and was also used as a floating fuel storage facility.

Thus, the blow fell not just on a merchant ship, but on a large element of Iraq’s oil logistics.

What is New Andros

New Andros is a large oil tanker of the VLCCone of the largest categories of oil tankers.

• IMO – 9294252;
• flag – Panama;
• year of construction – 2005;
• length – approx. 333 meters;
• width – approx. 60 meters;
• deadweight – approx. 302.500 tons.

In the registration data the owner is listed as Invincible Shipping Services Inc.and the management of the vessel is associated with a Greek company New Shipping Limited.

Greek media links New Shipping Limited to shipping entrepreneur Adamantios Polemis.

This is no longer an isolated incident

The attack on New Andros comes just a few days after the attack on another tanker of Greek interests – Siren – in the Black Sea.

“Athens News” analyzed this episode in detail in the material “Strike on Siren: what happened to the Greek tanker and its crew after the attack in the Black Sea”.

Then the blow hit the ship’s aft superstructure, where the crew’s living quarters and part of the control systems are located. After the attack, Siren moved extremely slowly for several days, and the Philippines later confirmed the evacuation of its crew.

Now another tanker was under attack, in a different direction – in the Persian Gulf.

This shows that the problem for Greek shipping is no longer tied to just one conflict or one maritime area.

From the Black Sea to Hormuz

In the case of Siren, we were talking about routes related to the Black Sea and Russian exports.

In the case of New Andros, it’s already about the oil infrastructure of Iraq and the situation around the Strait of Hormuz.

But there is one common factor: large merchant ships of Greek interests find themselves in the immediate zone of hostilities.

For Greek shipping companies, this means rising insurance premiums, security costs, possible route restrictions and the increasingly complex issue of responsibility for sending crews to high-risk areas.

Who attacked New Andros

For now not officially established, who exactly struck New Andros.

This is an important difference from the general context of today’s escalation.

Reuters reports that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had attacked ten ships in the Strait of Hormuz, including eight oil tankers.

However, public confirmation that New Andros was included in this listnot available at the time of publication.

Therefore, it is premature to directly attribute the strike to Iran.

The risk for the Greek fleet is becoming systemic

Greece remains one of the world’s largest shipping nations, with Greek companies operating a significant share of the world’s tanker fleet.

Therefore, any major maritime escalation – in the Black Sea, Red Sea or Persian Gulf – almost inevitably affects ships of Greek interests.

In recent months, this dependence has become especially noticeable: Greek tankers are simultaneously operating on routes passing through several military zones.

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