Drone strike and fire on ship in Romanian waters raise fears that war in Ukraine is spreading

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romanian authorities launched search and rescue operations off the Black Sea coast Thursday after a drone struck a ship which then caught fire, the latest in a spate of strikes that has raised fears that Russia’s war in Ukraine is spreading.

Five people were rescued after the San Marino-flagged Wine Trader, a chemical tanker traveling from Tunisia to Romania, caught fire in the attack about 13 nautical miles (15 miles) southeast of the port town of Sulina, according to the Romanian Naval Authority. Seven others are still missing.

Romanian President Nicusor Dan said in Brussels that the cargo vessel had been struck by a drone, as was another ship in a separate incident the night before. Dan did not state the drones’ origin.

“There will be a reaction from the Romanian state,” he said.

Similar drone incursions have occurred this month in the exclusive economic zones of Romania and Bulgaria, both NATO and European Union members.

According to initial medical assessments, one person rescued from the Wine Trader sustained scalp burns and another suffered from mild smoke inhalation, while the three others appeared unharmed, the Department for Emergency Situations said.

On Wednesday evening, a fire was also reported on the Comoros-flagged Yara J, a chemical and oil tanker traveling from Turkey to Sulina, Romania, in Romanian territorial waters. The crew was safe.

Romania's Ministry of National Defense said earlier that a “group of air targets” was monitored overnight near Ukraine’s Snake Island, and that a drone briefly entered Romania’s airspace at 1:34 a.m. southeast of Sulina, before disappearing from radar.

Romania’s acting defense minister, Radu Miruta, said that an investigation was underway, but that no drone was seen on military radars heading toward the Yara J.

On Tuesday, drone strikes on two ships off the coast of Bulgaria prompted emergency rescue operations for 11 crew members from the HS Dignity, a Guinea-Bissau-flagged cargo ship, who remain missing.

The other ship, a Ukrainian-operated coastal freighter named the Chelsea 3, was sailing under a Maltese flag. Rescuers evacuated all 15 crew members, with five receiving treatment for minor injuries. The crew reported that the ship’s deck and hull were hit by three aerial drones.

The incidents on Tuesday, for which Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev said Russia was likely responsible, came a week after sea and aerial drones struck two other commercial vessels in Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea. A Togo-flagged ship sank, while a Bulgarian ferry evacuated the 18-member crew of a damaged Palau-flagged vessel.

A day earlier, on Oct. 5, a Turkish-owned cargo ship carrying corn caught fire following a drone attack and later sank in the Black Sea off Romania's coast. Two people died and 11 crew members were rescued.