Romania Blames Russia After Drone Strike Sinks Cargo Ship Khoryv: One Sailor Dead, Three Missing

Updated 11:09 UTC: Romania blames Russia, says a drone sank the ship

Romanian President Nicusor Dan said on Friday that a drone strike sank the Khoryv and called the attack part of Russia's escalation in its war in Ukraine. "It is part of Russia's escalation process in its war in Ukraine," Dan told reporters, later saying the ship had been hit by a drone, Reuters reported. Video released by Romanian authorities showed only a small part of the capsized ship's hull still above the waves as it sank, while rescue vessels searched the surrounding waters in choppy seas and high wind. Reuters counted at least seven cargo ships hit off the coasts of Romania and Bulgaria in the past two weeks, with some 30 sailors reported dead or missing. NATO said on Tuesday it would send more maritime patrol aircraft, radar systems and drones to the Black Sea, and Romanian jets shot down two Russian drones over Romanian territorial waters on Saturday. Ukraine, Romania and Bulgaria have called on NATO to do more to protect commercial shipping in the Black Sea, Reuters reported. The account below was first published before the president spoke and described the cause as unconfirmed.

Romania launched a search and rescue operation in the Black Sea on Friday, October 23, after the cargo ship Khoryv caught fire and capsized about 13 nautical miles east of the port of Constanta, just outside Romanian territorial waters. One sailor died, nine were rescued alive and three are still missing.

The Romanian Naval Authority said the ship had 13 crew members on board, 10 citizens of Ukraine and three citizens of Azerbaijan. Its Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre received the alert at about 10:00 a.m. local time. The Interior Ministry said the vessel sustained extensive damage and capsized, with a risk of sinking, and the ship was later reported to have sunk.

Nine pulled alive from the water

"Rescue vessels managed to recover nine people alive and one body from the water," the Romanian Naval Authority said in a press release, quoted by Euronews. A nearby commercial vessel helped with the first response and recovered 10 of the crew, nine alive and one deceased, according to maritime safety reporting on the incident.

The Romanian Agency for Saving Human Life at Sea, known as ARSVOM, said its rescue vessel SAR Artemis was dispatched from the Port of Constanta after the coordination centre requested help at about 10:15 a.m. Rescue vessels from ARSVOM and the Interior Ministry were sent to the area, and the search for the three missing sailors was still under way on Friday.

Bad weather slowed the operation. Heavy rain and poor visibility kept a rescue helicopter on the ground, and a Black Hawk helicopter that was requested could not take off, according to Romanian reporting. The Khoryv is an ore and oil carrier sailing under the flag of the Comoros, according to the VesselFinder tracking platform.

Cause not yet confirmed

Romanian authorities have not officially confirmed what hit the ship. Romanian media reported that the vessel was probably struck by a drone and that the crew reported a fire on board before sending a distress call. The Naval Authority has not stated a cause.

The incident is the latest in a series of attacks on merchant ships in the western Black Sea, a vital route for Ukrainian grain exports. Euronews reported that drones believed to be Russian have struck ships off the coasts of Romania and Bulgaria in recent weeks. On October 6, two ships were hit in Bulgaria's Black Sea exclusive economic zone; one sank and the other was damaged. On October 15, two tankers caught fire off the Romanian coast after drone strikes, and sailors were reported missing.

Romanian reporting said the country's Supreme Council of National Defence recently described the attacks on commercial vessels as a security crisis. Romania is a member of NATO and shares a border with Ukraine, and its authorities have faced repeated drone incidents and floating mines in the Black Sea since Russia's full scale war on Ukraine began.