“Drone attack on ship in the Black Sea off Romania”… 7 people missing

AFP reported on the 15th (local time) that ships were attacked by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the Black Sea off the Romanian coast.

The evening before, a fire broke out on the Comoros-flagged oil tanker Yara J, and the crew extinguished the flames on their own. Authorities are investigating the possibility of a drone attack on the ship.

At around 7 a.m. on this day, the chemical product carrier Wine Trader caught fire in the sea about 13 nautical miles southeast of the Romanian coastal city of Sulina. There were 12 people on this boat. Five were rescued, but seven were missing.

Romanian President Nicusor Dan, who attended the European Union (EU) summit held in Brussels, Belgium, said that both ships were attacked by aerial drones.

In recent months, sparks due to the war between Russia and Ukraine have become more frequent on ships passing through the Black Sea.

On the 12th, the Guinea-Bissau cargo ship HS Dignity sank off the coast of Bulgaria in a suspected drone attack, leaving 11 crew members missing. On the same day, the Ukrainian cargo ship Chelsea 3 was also attacked by three drones.

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev said at the EU summit on the same day that there was no clear evidence to predict that the accident off his country's coast was caused by a Russian drone attack, but added, "The outcome of this attack is favorable to Russia," and said he plans to tow the Chelsea 3 to investigate the drone wreckage.