Fire on cargo ship in the Black Sea: 2 dead

Two people lost their lives and 11 crew members were rescued in a fire that broke out on a cargo ship sailing in the international waters of the Black Sea off the coast of Romania.

The Romanian Ministry of Internal Affairs announced that 11 personnel on the sinking ship were evacuated.

The Romanian Maritime Administration confirmed that the incident occurred on the ship named "Royad Mammadov", but did not share details about the cause of the fire.

Romanian media reported that the ship loaded with grain was in Turkish operation and that the incident occurred near an oil platform belonging to the Romanian energy company OMV Petrom.

According to the data reported by Reuters agency and shared by the ship tracking site VesselFinder, the ship flying the Saint Kitts and Nevis flag left Ukraine's Izmail Port and was sailing towards Ravenna, Italy.

SECURITY CONCERNS CONTINUE ON COMMERCIAL LINES IN THE BLACK SEA

NATO member Romania, which shares a 614-kilometer land border with Ukraine, has been facing Russian UAVs violating its airspace and mines drifting into the Black Sea's energy and trade routes since the start of the war.

Similar incidents have occurred in civilian maritime traffic in the region in recent months.

Previously, the Cameroon-flagged and Turkish-operated Ro-Ro ship named "Lider Bordo Mavi", which set out from Samsun on the night of August 26, 2026, was targeted by three UAVs off the coast of Russia's Tuapse Port.

Five crew members were injured on the ship that caught fire, and the rescue ship "Lider Kocatepe", which went to tow the damaged ship the next day, was also attacked.

Following these developments, Ukraine's Ambassador to Ankara was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Türkiye's reaction regarding navigation security was conveyed.

In the Black Sea, on August 2, 2026, the 140-meter "Yenina" container ship, belonging to the FESCO company under the Russian nuclear energy company Rosatom, sank in international waters as a result of a UAV attack, and 17 crew members were rescued.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced that the ship was shot on the grounds that it was providing military logistics.