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Two tankers attacked near CPC were not part of 'shadow fleet' — Astana

"Their names were clearly legible and easy to identify," Erlan Akkenzhenov said

ASTANA, January 28. /TASS/. The two oil tankers attacked by drones near the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) infrastructure in January were not members of a so-called shadow fleet and could be clearly identified, Kazakh Energy Minister Erlan Akkenzhenov told reporters.

"These tankers did not belong to any, so to speak, 'gray' flotilla," the minister said. He added that "there were no restrictions regarding the vessels, and these tankers were not on any gray lists."

According to the minister, the tankers were "almost 140 kilometers from Novorossiysk Bay" at the time of the attack.

"Their names were clearly legible and easy to identify," Akkenzhenov said.

The minister also said that the tankers were damaged in the attack, but remained afloat and were sent away for repairs.

Two tankers, sailing under the flags of Malta and Liberia, were attacked by Ukrainian drones in mid-January. The tankers were chartered to transport oil from Kazakhstan, which was to be loaded onto them after being pumped through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC). The republic's Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed concern over the incident and called on international partners to develop measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.