An unidentified device, thought to be an unmanned aerial or sea vehicle, washed ashore on the coast off the Fatsa district of Türkiye's northern province of Ordu, only days after a U.S.-made unmanned surface vessel (USV) was found on a beach in the same province, officials and media reports indicated on Thursday.
Security teams have launched an investigation to determine the nature of the device, Turkish media reports said.
The object is considered to possibly be an unmanned sea or aerial vehicle. Initial examinations by the Ordu gendarmerie found that the device contained no explosives or ammunition, the report by Demirören News Agency (DHA) said.
The object was handed over to the District Gendarmerie Command Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) teams for more detailed examination, it added.
The Ordu Governor's Office also released a written statement regarding the matter, suggesting that the device did not contain explosive material or ammunition.
"In the Bolaman neighborhood of our Fatsa district, on Thursday, 26.03.2026 (today) at around 10:00 AM, a device, estimated to be an unmanned sea or aerial vehicle, measuring approximately 2 meters by 50 centimeters, washed ashore. An inspection by the Ordu Provincial Gendarmerie Command / Criminal Branch Directorate PAMIT teams determined that there were no explosives or ammunition in the device," the statement shared in a post on X said.
On March 21, an unmanned surface vessel of U.S. origin was washed ashore in another district of Ordu, Ünye, and was subsequently destroyed, the authorities said.
The Defense Ministry said separately on Thursday that it is "closely" monitoring the risks in the Black Sea due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, after a U.S.-origin unmanned vessel was found near the coast of Ordu.
"On March 21, 2026, an unmanned maritime vehicle of U.S. origin, believed to have drifted ashore due to engine failure off the coast of Ünye in (Türkiye's Black Sea city of) Ordu, was safely neutralized by Underwater Defense Command teams," said the ministry's spokesperson, Rear Adm. Zeki Aktürk.
"Risks in the Black Sea caused by unmanned naval and aerial vehicles losing control or mobility, widely used in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, are being closely monitored," Aktürk added.
Early on Thursday, a Turkish-operated crude oil tanker was hit by an explosion likely caused by an unmanned surface vessel in the Black Sea, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu said.
