Eight Crew Missing After Drone Strike on Tanker Off Romanian Coast
A search is underway off Romania for eight missing crew members after the tanker Wine Trader caught fire following a drone attack.
At a glance
- Eight of 12 crew members are missing after the tanker Wine Trader caught fire in a drone strike off Romania's Black Sea coast.
- Four crew members survived, and Romanian authorities have deployed rescue boats and helicopters despite high waves.
- Romania and Bulgaria plan to consult NATO allies as maritime attacks escalate across the western Black Sea.
Eight crew members are missing after a drone strike set a commercial tanker ablaze off the coast of Romania on Thursday morning, naval authorities reported.
The San Marino-flagged vessel, named the Wine Trader, was travelling from Tunisia to Romania when explosions erupted on board at approximately 07:00 local time. Romanian President Nicușor Dan later confirmed that drones had struck the vessel roughly 13 nautical miles east of Sulina, near the mouth of the River Danube. Crews on nearby ships reported seeing two drones hit the tanker.
Emergency services launched a search and rescue operation involving two Black Hawk helicopters and two rescue boats to locate the eight missing crew members. Authorities confirmed that four of the twelve people on board survived, though high waves have complicated efforts to reach them safely.
Escalating Black Sea Attacks
The incident follows a series of strikes on commercial vessels operating along the western Black Sea coast. Russian drones were spotted overnight near Ukraine's Snake Island, close to the location of the attack. Moscow acknowledged striking two vessels carrying military cargo toward the Ukrainian port of Odesa during a sea transit, though it did not identify them by name.
Days earlier, two merchant ships were hit by drones off the coast of Bulgaria, causing one to sink and leaving 11 crew members missing. Bulgaria subsequently summoned the Russian envoy over suspicions of Moscow's involvement in that attack.
Potential NATO Consultations
The leadership of Romania and Bulgaria are preparing to assess whether to invoke Article 4 of the NATO treaty, which allows members to request formal alliance consultations if they believe their security or territorial integrity is under threat. President Dan announced that Romania would deliver a response to the attack.
Dan is scheduled to travel to Brussels with Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev to meet NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. Their discussions are expected to focus on regional security and equipment needed to safeguard shipping routes. Meanwhile, Russia has continued to reject international proposals for a naval ceasefire, claiming its strikes are aimed at vessels transporting weapons to Ukraine.
Source: BBC World.
Questions and answers
- What happened to the tanker Wine Trader?
- The San Marino-flagged ship caught fire after being hit by drones roughly 13 nautical miles east of Sulina off Romania's coast, leaving eight crew members missing and four confirmed alive.
- Will NATO become involved after the incident?
- The leaders of Romania and Bulgaria are discussing whether to invoke NATO's Article 4, which allows member states to hold formal consultations when their security is threatened.
- Who is suspected of carrying out the attack?
- Russian drones were detected nearby overnight, and Moscow claimed it hit two cargo ships heading to Ukraine, while Bulgarian authorities recently suspected Russia of similar regional strikes.
