Two Tankers Burn at the
Mouth of the Danube The Wine Trader lay at anchor near the mouth of the Sulina Canal, the channel that carries the Danube into the Black Sea. It sailed under the flag of San Marino, it carried chemicals in bulk, and it had twelve people aboard. A flag state is the national registry under which a vessel sails; it determines which country’s rules and inspections the ship answers to, not who is on deck. Ships anchor at this spot when weather or congestion delays them. Overnight into Thursday, fire broke out on board.
Hours earlier, in the same region, a second chemical tanker had already caught fire: the Comoros-flagged Yara J, a vessel that also carried oil. For the Wine Trader, Romania’s naval authority launched a search and rescue operation after receiving an emergency alert from the ship. Five of the twelve crew members are safe. Seven are missing.
The blazes occurred after Russian drones strayed into Romanian airspace, though Romanian officials have so far not explicitly said the unmanned aircraft caused the fires. The defense minister, Radu Miruta, put the uncertainty in plain terms: “Whether it was struck by a drone or not, an investigation is currently underway.” [1] He called the incident a matter of significant gravity, given that such incidents are occurring in Romanian territorial waters — the belt of sea over which a coastal state holds sovereignty.
Ten Days, Five Ships, Twenty-Three Sailors
Whatever the investigation establishes, the past ten days are not in dispute. Drone strikes have hit at least five other cargo ships off the coasts of Romania and neighboring Bulgaria in the past 10 days. Both countries are members of NATO. At least 23 sailors have been lost in those incidents.
Romania shares a 614-kilometer border with Ukraine, much of it running along the Danube. Over the past four years, since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of its neighbor, Romania has reported repeated breaches of its airspace by Russian drones.
Romanian President Nicusor Dan met NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte to address the situation. Dan, writing on X, was blunt: “This is unacceptable and it has to stop. Lives, global trade, and critical infrastructure are at stake.” [1] Rutte said:.” [1] Counter-drone capability is a category of equipment — sensors and interceptors meant to find and disable unmanned aircraft before they reach a target. Rutte said the alliance would “continue to work closely with our allies in the Black Sea, adjusting our deterrence and defense posture as needed.”
Grain Routes and a Moratorium on Paper
Shipping in the Black Sea has come under increasing attacks in recent months. Those attacks have drastically reduced grain transports from both Ukraine and Russia, both major cereal exporters.
Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev said on Thursday that the EU will discuss a proposed moratorium on attacks on civilian ships in the Black Sea at its ongoing summit in Brussels. Bulgaria summoned the Russian ambassador over the sinking of a ship off the country’s coast on Tuesday following a drone attack.