Bucharest (AFP) – Romania reported seven people missing on Thursday after two drone attacks on ships in the Black Sea, where several vessels have been hit recently in suspected fallout from the Ukraine war. The attacks are the latest in a series off the coast of Romania and neighboring Bulgaria in recent weeks.
Writing on X after a meeting with the leader of Bulgaria and NATO chief Mark Rutte in Brussels to discuss the issue, Romanian President Nicosur Dan said the trend was “unacceptable” and “has to stop.” “The situation in the Black Sea is serious. Commercial ships are being attacked and sunk. Seafarers killed, injured, and missing, very close to the shores of Romania and Bulgaria,” he said. “Lives, global trade, and critical infrastructure are at stake.”
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 7:00 am (0400 GMT) on Thursday, Romanian authorities reported that a fire had broken out on another ship, the Wine Trader, approximately 13 nautical miles southeast of the Romanian city of Sulina. The VesselFinder tracking website identified the ship, which was flying the San Marino flag, as a chemical tanker.
Speaking at the European Union summit in Brussels, Dan said both ships had been “hit” by “air drones.” The Romanian Naval Authority said in a statement there were 12 people on board the Wine Trader. “Five of the sailors…have been rescued. A further seven people are still missing,” it said, adding that the ship was not carrying any cargo.
The five crew members were taken to the hospital, rescuers said. One suffered burns to the scalp and another mild smoke inhalation. Black Sea shipping has suffered growing fallout from the Russia-Ukraine war in recent months. Eleven crew members were reported missing off Bulgaria on Tuesday after the Guinea-Bissau-flagged cargo vessel HS Dignity sank in what authorities in Sofia said was a suspected drone strike. A Ukrainian-owned cargo ship, the Chelsea 3, was hit by three drones on the same morning, though its crew of 15 were rescued.
“The results of this attack favour Russia. However, we don’t have any solid evidence that the drones are Russians,” Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev said in Brussels on the sidelines of the EU summit on Thursday. He said the Chelsea 3 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. An attack on two other ships off Bulgaria on October 6 also resulted in several people going missing. On Thursday, the Bulgarian parliament approved the purchase of five additional German IRIS-T air defense systems, bringing its total number to six. The proposal to expand the order was submitted by the government the day after the drone attack of October 6.
Early last week, two people died when 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. 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.
After meeting the leaders of both countries in Brussels on Thursday, Rutte said the military alliance would “continue to work closely with our allies in the Black Sea, adjusting our deterrence and defense posture as needed.” Speaking to reporters in Brussels, Dan said NATO will hold a meeting on the increasing number of drone attacks on vessels in the Black Sea, adding that Romania needs “equipment to deal with a new kind of challenge.” NATO officials said the issue would be put on the agenda at the regular meeting of alliance ambassadors in Brussels next week.
© 2024 AFP
