Oil tanker catches fire in Black Sea, 8 missing

China News Service, Beijing, October 15th. News from Bucharest: The Romanian Maritime Administration said on the 15th local time that a San Marino-flagged oil tanker caught fire in the Black Sea that day. Eight crew members were missing and four were rescued.

Based on news from the Associated Press, the British Broadcasting Corporation and other media, the Romanian Maritime Administration said in a statement that the tanker "Wine Trader" flying the San Marino flag reported that the ship exploded and caught fire in the Black Sea waters about 13 nautical miles southeast of Sulina, Romania's easternmost city, at around 7:00 on the 15th.

According to reports, it is unclear whether the ship was attacked. Romanian authorities said there were 12 people on board and the search and rescue operations for the eight missing crew members were continuing. Two helicopters and two ships had been deployed to participate in the search and rescue.

Recently, many similar incidents have occurred in the waters of the Black Sea. On the 5th, a ship carrying grain caught fire and sank in the Black Sea, killing two people. In the early morning of the 6th, a drone attack occurred on a merchant ship in Bulgaria’s Black Sea Exclusive Economic Zone. All 10 crew members on one ship died, and the crew members on the other ship were rescued. On the 13th, two ships were attacked by drones on the Black Sea near Bulgaria, and 16 crew members were rescued.