Seven of 12 people on the Wine Trader remain missing after a fire off Romania. Five were rescued and rough seas are hampering the search.
BUCHAREST: Romania said seven people were missing after a fire early on Thursday on a vessel in the Black Sea, which has recently experienced a series of drone attacks.
Suspected Russian drones have hit several ships off Romania and neighbouring Bulgaria since last week in a spillover from the Ukraine war.
Romanian authorities did not say whether a drone caused the fire on the vessel, named as the Wine Trader, which reported a blaze at around 7:00 am (0400 GMT), approximately 13 nautical miles southeast of the Romanian city of Sulina.
The VesselFinder tracking website identified the ship as a chemical tanker.
“Whether it was struck by a drone or not, an investigation is currently underway,” defence minister Radu Miruta told the Digi24 television channel.
“This is a matter of significant gravity, given that such incidents are occurring in Romanian territorial waters,” he said.
The Romanian Naval Authority said in a statement there were 12 people on board the vessel.
Eight crew were initially reported as missing.
“Five of the sailors on board the Wine Trader have been rescued, a further seven people are still missing,” the Naval Authority said in an update.
It added that the ship was not carrying any cargo.
A search and rescue operation was underway, involving several vessels and two Black Hawk helicopters — a task made difficult by rough seas, the interior ministry said.
“At present, it is not possible to rescue the people safely due to the very high waves,” the ministry said.
The incident on the Wine Trader, which was flying the San Marino flag, comes a day after Romania said it was probing a possible fresh drone attack on a tanker off its Black Sea coast.
Rescuers rushed to help the Comoros-flagged Yara J after a fire broke out, but the ship’s crew managed to douse the flames themselves.
Ukraine war fallout
Black Sea shipping has seen growing fallout from the Russia-Ukraine war in recent months.
Early last week, a Turkish-owned grain ship sank off Romania’s coast after catching fire.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky alleged the vessel was struck by Russian drones.
One crew member was confirmed dead. The search for a second person has been called off, the Romanian Naval Authority told AFP on Thursday.
Earlier this week, two merchant vessels were attacked off the coast of Bulgaria. Eleven people were reported missing.
An attack last week on two other ships off Bulgaria also resulted in several people going missing.
Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev said on Thursday that one of the ships would be towed to harbour to be investigated for drone debris to determine the origin of the strike.
“Then we’ll have solid evidence,” he said in Brussels, alleging: “The results of this attack favour Russia.”
Romanian President Nicusor Dan said on X Wednesday the drone attacks in the Black Sea were “direct consequences of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine”.
He added that Romania and Bulgaria would push for “stronger counter-drone measures within the EU and NATO” to ensure safe commercial shipping in the Black Sea.
At least 163 civilian and commercial vessels were hit on the Black Sea in the first eight months of this year, according to Turkey’s IMEAK chamber of shipping.