Attack on Lady Zehma Prompts Shipowners to Halt Ukraine Black Sea Calls

Lady Zehma was hit by a drone and a rocket in the Black Sea on July 21 while heading away from Odessa. Two strikes.

The attacks tore into a cargo hold and hatch cover. The engines were not touched. The ship continued under its own power. All 22 crew were safe.

GN Group Corporation, the Istanbul-based operator, confirmed the damage. The crew: 19 Azerbaijanis, one Turk, one Ukrainian, one Egyptian.

Shipowners broadly stopped calling at Ukraine's Black Sea ports two days later. Ukraine's agrarian minister said no ships were entering at all. Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd named their Chornomorsk suspensions specifically. Reuters reported the broad halt, citing multiple operators pulling back.