A RUSSIAN ballistic missile strike on infrastructure at Ukraine's port of Chornomorsk has killed six people, wounded 11 others and damaged a Panama-flagged containership.

This is the fifth merchant ship to have been hit by the Russian military in the space of a month with the Black Sea region having gone the whole year prior without any attacks, reports Singapore's Splash 247.



The ship strike was the third in Ukrainian waters in just four days.



The 24-year-old, 1,679 TEU Shui Spirit, operated by Nortada Shipmanagement from Portugal, was the vessel attacked.



"Vessels operating in the Black Sea are advised to conduct comprehensive dynamic voyage threat assessments. Crew members should remain within the vessel's superstructure during any aerial attacks on port infrastructure," advised Ambrey, a British maritime security specialist.



In other news from the Black Sea, Ukraine has revealed it has confiscated a dry bulk vessel accused of exporting agricultural products from Crimea.



The 42-year-old USKO MFU, a Cameroon-flagged general cargo ship, was detained in July over its repeated trips to Sevastopol to pick up grain exports.



The decision has now been taken to confiscate the Turkish-owned ship, which is valued at US$600,000, while its Azerbaijani captain has also been detained, potentially facing a jail sentence.