Eight crew missing in tanker fire off Romania's coast
Eight of 12 crew members are missing after a ship reported a fire and explosion in the Black Sea off Romania.
Eight crew missing after tanker fire off Romania’s coast
Eight of the 12 crew members are missing after a tanker caught fire off Romania’s coast, naval authorities said, with reports also indicating explosions on board.
The San Marino-flagged Wine Trader was about 13 nautical miles (24km) east of the mouth of the River Danube at Sulina when it reported explosions and a fire on Thursday morning.
The west coast of the Black Sea has experienced a series of drone attacks over the past two weeks, and there are unconfirmed reports from nearby ships that the tanker was hit by two drones.
Swarms of Russian drones were detected overnight not far from the site of Thursday’s fire, near Ukraine’s Snake Island.
On Tuesday, two merchant ships were hit by drones further south along the coast of Bulgaria, Romania’s neighbour, and one of the vessels sank. Bulgaria said it suspected Russia was behind that attack and summoned the country’s envoy.