Black Sea on edge: Two tankers catch fire in Romanian waters, seven sailors missing

Two chemical tankers caught fire in Romanian territorial waters in the Black Sea overnight, leaving seven sailors missing and triggering a search-and-rescue operation on Thursday (Oct 15), Romanian authorities said. This comes amid growing threats to commercial shipping linked to the Russia-Ukraine war. The fires broke out near the mouth of the Sulina Canal, which connects the Danube River to the Black Sea. Both vessels were anchored in the area, where ships frequently wait for permission to pass through the waterway.

Seven crew members missing from tanker

Romania’s naval authority received an emergency alert from the San Marino-flagged tanker Wine Trader. Of its 12 crew members, five were rescued, while seven remained missing. The interior ministry deployed two Black Hawk helicopters and two vessels carrying medical personnel to support the rescue effort. However, difficult weather conditions hampered the operation.

“At the moment, the rescue cannot be done safely because of very big waves,” the ministry said in a statement.

A second vessel, the Comoros-flagged chemical and oil tanker Yara J, caught fire late on Wednesday. Romanian authorities initially said it was unclear whether the ship had been attacked. All its crew members were reported safe.

Officials have not directly linked either fire to Russian drones that strayed into Romanian airspace.

Growing threat to Black Sea shipping

The latest incidents follow drone strikes on at least five other cargo ships near Romania and neighbouring Bulgaria over the past 10 days. Those attacks, which occurred outside NATO’s territorial waters, left at least 23 sailors dead or missing.

Romania shares a 614-km border with Ukraine and has repeatedly reported Russian drone incursions into its airspace since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Russian attacks on Ukrainian Black Sea ports have pushed Kyiv to rely more heavily on Danube ports and shipping routes close to Romania and Bulgaria. Ukraine, meanwhile, has targeted Russian vessels near the mouth of the Don River in the Sea of Azov.

The escalation has raised concerns about disruptions to global food supplies, with Russia, Ukraine and Romania all major grain exporters.

“We’re looking at the Black Sea as a global food artery,” Romanian Foreign Minister Oana Toiu told a security conference in Warsaw earlier this week.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev said EU leaders would discuss a proposed moratorium on attacks against civilian vessels in the Black Sea on Thursday.