The key facts

  • The San Marino-flagged tanker Wine Trader issued a distress call at around 7 a.m. on October 15 off the coast of Romania
  • Five of the 12 crew members were rescued, seven are listed as missing
  • That same night, a fire on the Comoros-flagged tanker Yara J was extinguished by the crew, with no casualties

Attack on a tanker off the Romanian coast

In the Black Sea area near the Romanian coast, a tanker was attacked by a drone, as a result of which seven of the 12 crew members went missing. The vessel Wine Trader, sailing under the flag of San Marino, issued a distress call on the morning of October 15 at around seven o'clock. Five sailors were rescued, while the fate of the rest remains unknown.

Fire on a second tanker

That same night, a fire also broke out aboard another vessel — the Comoros-flagged tanker Yara J, intended for carrying chemical cargo. According to reports, there were no casualties: the crew managed to extinguish the fire on their own.

Situation in the region

According to Reuters, at the time of the attacks both vessels were anchored not far from the Romanian coast, but local authorities have not yet linked the onboard fires to Russian drone attacks. The outlet also notes that over the past ten days, at least five cargo vessels have been attacked by drones off the coasts of Romania and Bulgaria. All these attacks took place outside NATO territorial waters and resulted in the deaths of 23 sailors in total.