Seven missing after two tankers catch fire off Romania’s Black Sea coast

Seven people are missing after after two drone attacks on ships in and just outside Romania’s territorial waters in the Black Sea.

Romania’s naval authority said rescuers were searching for the seven missing sailors from the San Marino-flagged Wine Trader, one of two chemical tankers that caught fire overnight and early on Thursday. It added that five other people were rescued.

The cause of the fire aboard the Wine Trader, which was travelling from Tunisia to Romania, wasn’t immediately clear, but a recent spate of drone strikes on ships in the Black Sea has raised fears that Russia’s war in Ukraine is spreading.

On Wednesday evening, Romania said it was probing a possible drone attack on the Comoros-flagged tanker Yara J. It said a fire had broken out on board, but the ship’s crew managed to douse the flames themselves.

Then, at around 7am (04:00 GMT) on Thursday, Romanian authorities reported that a fire had broken out on the Wine Trader, approximately 24km (13 nautical miles) southeast of the Romanian city of Sulina.

At a summit of European Union leaders on Thursday, Romanian President Nicusor Dan said, “Two drones hit them.”

“There will be a reaction from the Romanian state” once more information is gathered, he added.

The two ships were hit while anchored near the mouth of the Sulina Canal leading into the Danube River, a major shipping route used by Ukraine.

The Interior Ministry said it had sent two Black Hawk helicopters to the search-and-rescue mission, as well as two ships with medical staff on board.

“At the moment, the rescue cannot be done safely because of very big waves,” it said in a statement.

Earlier shipping attacks

The incident comes amid growing concerns over hybrid attacks in the Black Sea involving Russia.

On Tuesday, two ships were hit in drone attacks off Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast, with one of them sinking, Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Rumen Radev said.

Neither Romania nor Bulgaria have directly blamed Russia for the attacks, although Bulgaria’s Radev did summon Russia’s ambassador.

“We don’t believe that Ukraine will attack its own ships and crews,” Radev said. ‘There is no logic here. So the results of this attack favour Russia. However, we don’t have any solid evidence that the drones are Russian.”

Earlier this month, a grain ship caught fire and sank outside Romania’s territorial waters. Ukraine blamed Russian drones for the incident, in which two people were killed and 11 others rescued.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte met with Bulgaria’s PM Radev and Romania’s President Dan on Thursday to address the escalating number of drone attacks in the Black Sea.

“NATO has strengthened our posture along the eastern flank including with increasing counter-drone capabilities,” Rutte said in a post on X. “NATO will continue to work closely with our Allies in the Black Sea, adjusting our deterrence and defence posture as needed.”

Romania’s President Dan said NATO is due to hold a summit to address the incursions by drones into eastern European airspace that are testing the Western military alliance and the EU’s defences and response capabilities.

Romania, a NATO member, shares a land border with Ukraine.

Since the Russia-Ukraine war started, drones have breached its airspace while mines floating in the Black Sea threaten key trade and energy routes.

“All EU leaders see this as part of the spillover of the war between Russia and Ukraine, because since Russia launched its full-scale invasion, the Black Sea has become a key battleground,” said Al Jazeera correspondent Rosie Birchard.