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Drone Reportedly Hits Oil Tanker in NATO Member Romania’s Territorial Waters
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A Comoros-flagged tanker was reportedly struck by a drone in Romanian territorial waters near Sulina, sparking a fire without injuring its crew, according to Cedar News and Maritime.bg on October 14.
The YARA J, IMO 9221803, reported the incident on the evening of October 14 while approximately 10 nautical miles from Sulina in the Black Sea. Romanian maritime authorities dispatched the SAR Apollo rescue vessel after receiving a request from the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre.
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The reported strike caused a fire aboard the tanker, which the crew extinguished with the vessel's equipment. Its engines remained operational, allowing YARA J to proceed under its own power toward the Romanian port of Constanța.
The tanker carried a 17-member crew composed of citizens of Syria, India, and Iran, Maritime.bg reported. None of the sailors were injured, while ITF Romania representative Adrian Mihălcioiu stated that the crew was out of danger and remained aboard.
The precise circumstances of the reported drone strike and responsibility for the incident have not been independently established. Cedar News also noted that claims it was the first such attack inside a NATO member’s territorial waters remain unverified.
The incident off Sulina followed a series of drone attacks on commercial shipping near NATO's Black Sea coastline.
Overnight on October 13, three drones struck the Maltese-flagged, Ukrainian-owned cargo ship Chelsea 3 about 18 nautical miles east of Bulgaria's Byala, forcing all 15 crew members to evacuate. The cargo ship Azov Concord sank after being hit 17 nautical miles east of Krapets.
Bulgaria acknowledged it lacked conclusive evidence on the drones' origin but summoned the Russian ambassador, citing the logic that the outcome benefited Moscow. Two other vessels had earlier been struck in Bulgaria's Exclusive Economic Zone, killing at least two people.
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