Current reports indicate that eight to ten oil tankers are linked to Kazakhstan via the Turkish Straits, a figure provided by Magzum Mirzagaliyev, the chairman of the board of Kazmunaigas, as cited by TASS. He noted that the total would include twenty-one tankers, six of which carried Tengizchevroil oil. In his assessment, Mirzagaliyev said that about eight to ten tankers remain connected to Kazakhstan and stressed that Kazakhstan had not sustained any casualties.
Earlier, Bloomberg estimated that a blockade of tankers off the Turkish coast could hold around 18 million barrels of oil. The report also stated that roughly twenty aircraft carriers had waited for several days to traverse the navigable Istanbul and Çanakkale Straits. It was claimed that all but one of the tankers were transporting cargo from Kazakhstan. These figures appear in the agency’s briefing and reflect the ongoing tensions affecting maritime traffic in the region.
Insurance arrangements for ships departing Russian Black Sea ports are managed by local authorities. Vessels insured by Russian insurance companies were permitted to pass through Turkish waters, while ships carrying Western insurance coverage faced delays. The arrangement underscores the complex interplay between regional security, shipping insurance, and the ability of vessels to move through critical chokepoints in this corridor.