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Romania is investigating a possible drone attack on a tanker that caught fire in its territorial waters off Sulina late Wednesday, which would be the first such strike inside Romanian waters, as rescuers rushed Thursday to a second vessel in the area.
"Whether it was struck by a drone or not, an investigation is currently underway," Defense Minister Radu Miruta told Digi24. "This is a matter of significant gravity, given that such incidents are occurring in Romanian territorial waters."
Coastal waters of Romania, Bulgaria and Türkiye had been seen as a safer corridor for Black Sea shipping, and an attack inside them would deepen the risk to vessels trading with Ukraine via the Danube.
The 25-year-old Comoros-flagged tanker Yara J, with 17 Syrian, Indian and Iranian crew, had left Türkiye empty and was heading to Ukraine to load petroleum products, Romanian Naval Authority representatives told Europa FM. It was anchored about 10 nautical miles from Sulina when a fire broke out around 8:00 p.m.
According to Adrian Mihalcioiu, the head of the Romanian seafarers' union SLN, the crew members on board reported that their vessel had been targeted by a drone strike.
The crew put out the fire themselves; no one was injured, and the ship headed to the Constanta roadstead, authorities said.
"A commercial vessel under a foreign flag, in ballast, anchored in Romania’s territorial sea about 9 nautical miles east of Casla Vadanei, informed MRCC that a fire broke out on board," the Coast Guard said, adding the crew later said all aboard were safe and did not request assistance.
Romania's Defense Ministry said two aerial targets entered its airspace at 8:04 p.m., with radar contact lost over the sea for one, and scrambled two F-18 jets.
Romania's Foreign Ministry said it would inform international partners and respond publicly once investigators confirm the circumstances.
Early Thursday, Romania's maritime coordination center requested a rescue mission for the San Marino-flagged Wine Trader, 14 nautical miles from Sulina, the Romanian Agency for Life Saving at Sea said.
No further details were immediately available.
The Maritime Coordination Center of the Romanian Naval Authority has launched an emergency search and rescue operation (SAR) following a serious incident reported this morning in the waters of the Black Sea, about 13 nautical miles southeast of Sulina.
Around 07:00, the San Marino-flagged merchant ship Wine Trader sent an emergency alert signaling a fire at the ship's castle.
There were 12 people on board. 4 of them are safe and 8 are currently missing.
The Maritime Coordination Centre and the intervention structures have urgently mobilized specialized naval and air assets. A helicopter of the General Aviation Inspectorate was lifted from the ground, and the search and rescue ship SAR "Apollo," belonging to the Romanian Agency for the Salvation of Life at Sea (ARSVOM), was sent to the area.
Fourteen Syrians were among the 16 crew of the Guinea-Bissau-flagged HS Dignity, which sank off Bulgaria after being hit Tuesday by an aerial drone and two unmanned surface vessels (USVs), the Syrian Sailors Union said.
Five crew were rescued, and the search for 11 others continues.
"We of course condemn attacks on civilian ships, especially the most recent one that took place off the coast of Bulgaria," U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said, warning the attacks were driving up global commodity prices.
"If Russia continues these attacks, it does so at the expense of people in the Global South, primarily people in Africa," German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said, adding, "That is why I reiterate the clear appeal: we need a ceasefire in the Black Sea for civilian shipments, particularly of grain."
Moscow has said it has no knowledge of the latest attacks, while Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev said their outcome "benefits the Russian Federation," as Black Sea shipping attacks widen.
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