Two Ships Ablaze Off Romanian Black Sea Coast, 7 Sailors Missing After Drone Strike

Updated 20:34 UTC: NATO says the drones were Russian, two more ships targeted

NATO has now pointed to Russia. A NATO military source told Reuters the drones that set fires on the tankers inside Romanian territorial waters were of Russian origin. President Nicusor Dan, who confirmed earlier on Thursday that air drones hit both tankers, still declined to say who was responsible.

NATO said it is in contact with Romanian officials. The alliance said two other vessels were also targeted in the Black Sea overnight: the Sea Destiny, a bulk carrier flagged in the Marshall Islands that was inside Romanian waters, and the Dania J, a tanker flagged in Tanzania that was moored at Izmail, a Ukrainian port on the Danube. NATO gave no word of casualties on either ship.

After meeting Dan and Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev on Thursday, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the alliance would keep working closely with its Black Sea allies and adjust its deterrence and defence posture as needed. Dan called the situation in the Black Sea serious, with commercial ships attacked and sunk and seafarers killed, injured and missing close to the Romanian and Bulgarian coasts. Radev said EU leaders would discuss a proposed halt to attacks on civilian ships in the Black Sea.

The search for the seven missing Wine Trader crew went on in very big waves, with two Black Hawk helicopters and two ships with medical staff taking part.

Updated 15:47 UTC: President confirms drone strike, 7 missing

President Nicusor Dan confirmed on Thursday that air drones hit both tankers. Speaking to reporters in Brussels ahead of a summit of EU leaders, he said only a few hours had passed since the strikes and Romania was still waiting for more information. He declined to say whether the drones were Russian. He said there would be a reaction from the Romanian state.

The missing count has been revised. Romania's naval authority now says seven of the Wine Trader's 12 crew are missing and five were rescued. The ship was hit 13 nautical miles southeast of the Sulina Canal, one mile outside Romanian waters. Of the two ships hit overnight, one was in Romanian waters and the other was just outside.

The interior ministry said it sent two Black Hawk helicopters and two ships with medical staff to the search. It said the rescue could not be done safely at the moment because of very big waves. The BBC reported that the leaders of Romania and Bulgaria are due to discuss whether to ask for NATO consultations under Article 4 of the treaty. That discussion follows an attack on Tuesday on two merchant ships off Bulgaria, where one ship sank and 11 crew were reported missing.

Rescuers searched on Thursday for eight missing sailors from a chemical tanker that caught fire overnight in Romanian waters in the Black Sea, Romanian officials said. A second tanker nearby also caught fire. All of its crew were safe.

Romania's naval authority said it got an emergency alert from the San Marino flagged tanker Wine Trader. Eight of its 12 crew were missing and four were safe. The Comoros flagged chemical and oil tanker Yara J also caught fire. Romanian authorities said at first it was not clear whether that ship had been attacked.

Both ships were anchored near the mouth of the Sulina Canal, which leads from the Danube River into the Black Sea. Ships often wait there for a turn through the canal because of weather and congestion. The Danube is a major export route for Ukraine, which has relied on it more heavily as Russia has attacked its own Black Sea ports.

What officials are not saying yet

Romanian officials stopped short of linking the fires directly to Russian drones. They did say Russian drones had strayed into Romanian airspace around the time of the fires. Romania shares a 614 kilometre border with Ukraine, much of it along the Danube, and it has reported repeated drone breaches of its airspace over the past four years of the war.

The timing is hard to ignore. The fires follow drone strikes on at least five other cargo ships near the coasts of Romania and Bulgaria over the past 10 days. At least 23 sailors were lost in those strikes. Those earlier attacks took place just outside NATO territorial waters. The overnight fires happened inside them, which raises the stakes for the alliance if an attack is confirmed.

Why it matters

Black Sea shipping carries grain, oil and chemicals from Ukraine, Romania and Bulgaria to world markets. Ukraine and Russia are both major grain exporters, and every new attack pushes up insurance costs and slows ships that are already queuing at the Danube mouth. A fire on a chemical tanker also carries a pollution risk close to the Danube Delta, a protected wetland.

What happens next

The search for the seven missing sailors is the first priority. Investigators will then have to establish what started each fire, and whether the two fires share a cause. Romania has given no timeline for its findings. NATO has since commented, as reported in the update at the top of this story.