More than 300 attacks were recorded in the Black Sea this year, according to figures from maritime security company Ambrey, with more than 30 seafarers killed and more than 20 missing.

That tops the roughly 130 attacks in the Strait of Hormuz and the wider Middle East, in which 25 seafarers died, since the US-Iran conflict began at the end of February, according to the International Maritime Organization. The number of ships entering the Black Sea through the Bosphorus fell 41% from October 2025, and total transits in both directions fell 38%, according to Global Fishing Watch data cited by The Wall Street Journal in a text republished by The Moscow Times.