Seven Sailors Missing After Drones Hit Ships Off Romania

Seven sailors are missing after drones struck two tankers anchored near Romania's Sulina canal on the night of October 14.

The San Marino-flagged Wine Trader was hit roughly 13 nautical miles southeast of the canal, just outside Romanian territorial waters. Twelve crew were aboard when it caught fire. Five were pulled from the water. The other seven had not been found by daybreak, and Romanian rescue crews were still searching on October 15.

The Comoros-flagged Yara J also took a drone hit, about 10 miles from Sulina, inside Romanian waters. Its 17 crew, drawn from Syria, India, and Iran, put the fire out using equipment already on board. All were safe. The tanker sailed for the Romanian port of Constanta under its own power.

A NATO military source told reporters the drones were "of Russian origin." Romanian President Nicusor Dan confirmed the attacks but stopped short of naming a culprit.

Both tankers were near the Sulina approach, a natural staging area for traffic working the Danube river corridor. The area has seen repeated strikes over the past two weeks. Earlier this month, the cargo ship Royad Mammadov was sunk by drones in Romania's Black Sea zone, killing two crew members. Days later, a sea drone hit the cargo ship ABLE off Bulgaria, flooding its engine room and forcing the evacuation of all 18 crew. The western Black Sea has been the setting for repeated strikes since late September, when a crude oil tanker caught fire off Sochi in a strike Ukrainian officials attributed to their own forces.

The Wine Trader's seven missing crew remain unaccounted for. The Yara J is expected at Constanta.