ISTANBUL, December 2. /TASS/. A security corridor could be set up in the Black Sea to allow military vessels to escort civilian ships amid recent attacks on tankers off Turkey’s coast, Turkish security expert Gungor Yavuzarslan said.

"It is possible to create a corridor similar to the humanitarian one set up under the Black Sea Grain Initiative (signed in Istanbul in 2022 and active for one year — TASS). The Turkish Navy could take on the task of ensuring safe navigation," the expert told the CNN-turk TV channel.

Military expert Can Erenoglu expressed a similar view. "There have been examples of military vessels escorting civilian ships on the open sea. Similar measures could be implemented in the Black Sea, considering recent attacks on tankers off the Turkish coast," the expert told the NTV channel.

Erenoglu did not rule out that the latest attack, reported by the Turkish Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure on Tuesday, could have been carried out using drones. There has been no information on the means of the attack yet.

Earlier, the ministry reported that the tanker Midvolga 2, en route from Russia to Georgia carrying a cargo of sunflower oil, came under attack 80 miles off the coast of Turkey. "Currently, all 13 crew members are healthy, and the ship is not requesting assistance. The ship is proceeding toward Sinop with its engines functioning," the statement said.

This is the third attack on tankers within Turkey’s exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea in the past five days. Two tankers, Kairos and Virat, both sailing under the Gambian flag and heading to Russia without cargo, issued distress signals on November 28 while located 28 and 38 nautical miles, respectively, off the Turkish coast in the Black Sea. On Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that these attacks indicate an alarming escalation of the Ukrainian conflict and nothing can justify them.