Estonian ship hit by blasts around Ukraine

An Estonian-owned cargo ship named Helt sank on Thursday off Ukraine's major Black Sea port of Odessa, hours after a Bangladeshi vessel was hit by a missile or bomb at a port east of Odessa, underlining the growing peril to merchant shipping after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Many shipping firms have suspended journeys to Black Sea ports and other terminals in Ukraine amid soaring recent insurance premiums for such voyages. At least three commercial ships have been hit separately by projectiles since February 24 when Russia's invasion began.

Viktor Vyshnov, deputy head of Ukraine's Maritime Administration, said six crew members from the Marshall Islands-flagged Helt were picked up by Ukraine's rescue service and taken to a hospital in nearby Chernomorsk after floating in cold water for many hours, but he had no further details.

The rescue was confirmed by Igor Ilves, managing director of the Helt's Tallinn-based manager Vista Shipping Agency.

Ilves had told Reuters earlier that two of the crew were in a life raft at sea, with four others unaccounted for at the time. He said the crew comprised four Ukrainian nationals, a Russian and a Belarusian.

"The vessel has finally sunk," Ilves said, adding it might have struck a mine.

There were no claims of responsibility for either event.

NATO's Shipping Center warned on Wednesday that there was "a high risk of collateral damage on civilian shipping in the northwestern part of the Black Sea", which included mines.

"There are several open source reports of civilian ships being hit directly or indirectly as a result of the acts of war in the northwestern Black Sea within Ukrainian territorial waters and adjacent international waters," NATO said.

"Civilian shipping is encouraged to exercise caution and be on high alert in the area."

Late on Wednesday, a missile or bomb struck a Bangladeshi-owned cargo ship in the Black Sea port of Olvia, killing one of its crew members. Efforts were underway to rescue the others from the vessel, its owner said on Thursday.

"The ship came under attack and one engineer was killed," Pijush Dutta, executive director of Bangladesh Shipping Corp, told Reuters. "It was not clear whether it was a bomb or missile or which side launched the attack. The other 28 crew are unharmed," he said, without providing further details.

The Bangladesh-flagged Banglar Samriddhi had been stuck in Olvia since the Russian invasion began on February 24, and was hit by a missile, a Bangladeshi foreign ministry official said.