Black sea drone attack tankers: seven sailors missing off Romania
Seven sailors are missing after a black sea drone attack on tankers struck the Wine Trader and Yara J near Romania's Black Sea coast, setting both vessels on fire. A Nato military source said the drones were of Russian origin and hit inside Romanian territorial waters.
Black sea drone attack tankers: seven sailors missing off Romania
What happened to the two tankers
Seven crew members are unaccounted for after a black sea drone attack struck two tankers near Romania's coast, leaving both vessels burning. The missing sailors were aboard the Wine Trader, a San-Marino flagged tanker that had been travelling from Tunisia to Romania.
The second vessel, the Yara J, was struck late on Wednesday just inside Romanian waters, and all of its crew were reported safe.
Russian origin of the drones
A Nato military source told Reuters that the drones which caused the fires were of Russian origin and struck inside Romanian territorial waters. Romania's president, Nicușor Dan, confirmed the two ships had been hit by drones but declined to say whether Russia was responsible.
On X, Dan called the situation in the Black Sea serious, saying commercial ships were being attacked and sunk and seafarers killed, injured and missing close to the shores of Romania and Bulgaria, and described the attacks as unacceptable.
Nato and the Black Sea response
Dan's post followed a Thursday meeting with Bulgaria's prime minister, Rumen Radev, and Nato's secretary-general, Mark Rutte, at which the three agreed to strengthen Black Sea defences. Rutte said:
Nato will continue to work closely with our allies in the Black Sea, adjusting our deterrence and defence posture as needed
A Nato official said the tankers struck in Romania would be discussed at a meeting of the North Atlantic Council next week.
A pattern of strikes on shipping
The strike off Romania is part of a wider sequence of attacks on commercial shipping near the Bulgarian and Romanian coasts. According to Reuters, at least 23 sailors have been reported missing or killed in the past 10 days.
- On Tuesday, drone strikes on two ships off Bulgaria triggered rescue operations; 11 crew of the HS Dignity, a Guinea-Bissau flagged cargo ship, remain missing.
- All 15 crew of the Ukrainian-operated, Maltese-flagged Chelsea 3 were evacuated, five of them treated for minor injuries; the crew said three aerial drones hit the deck and hull.
- Romania, which shares a 614km (381-mile) border with Ukraine, much of it along the Danube, has seen frequent drone incursions since Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion, including one last November that prompted Nato to scramble fighter jets.
- Russia's intensified bombing of Ukraine's Black Sea infrastructure has forced Kyiv to rely on Danube river ports and Black Sea routes off Romania and Bulgaria for exporting grain and sunflower oil.
- A draft EU summit declaration says attacks on civilian shipping, including member state-flagged vessels in Bulgaria's and Romania's Black Sea exclusive economic zones, are unacceptable and a serious violation of international and maritime law.
Separately, Radev, speaking in Brussels at an EU summit on Thursday, said the results of the attack favour Russia but there is no solid evidence the drones are Russian. The North Atlantic Council takes up the issue next week.
