A merchant ship caught fire on the evening of August 27 in the Black Sea, in Romania's exclusive economic zone, and the crew of 12 sailors was rescued by border police officers from the Coast Guard and by another merchant ship in the area, News.ro announced. The rescue operation was difficult because of the large waves in the area. 

"The ship was hit, and it seems to have sunk, but for now we don't know by whom and by what," commented president Nicuşor Dan.

Representatives of the Romanian Naval Authority (ANR) announced that, on Thursday, at around 17:55, the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) Service within the ANR received an alert regarding the ship Progress IV, flagged in the Dominican Republic, the last known position being located in Romania's exclusive economic zone, approximately 15 nautical miles from Sfântu Gheorghe. 

"The merchant ship Mohamad B headed to the area immediately, and at the same time the rescue ships ARSVOM, SAR Ares and SAR Artemis were urgently mobilised, along with the Border Police’s ship MAI 0201, designated as the coordinator on site", ANR representatives stated. There were 12 crew members on board the ship Progress IV. By 20:47, all were recovered alive.

"Following the rescue operation, by 21:00, all 12 people who were on board the merchant ship were rescued. Of these, ten people were rescued by the border police, one of them being injured, and two other people were rescued by the other merchant ship's crew," the quoted source stated.

President Dan, attending the Independence Day ceremony in Chisinau, commented.

"This evening we had an event in Romanian territorial waters. A ship was hit. Fortunately, the crew members were rescued. The Coast Guard intervened promptly; no one was injured," Nicușor Dan said.

"The ship was hit, and it seems to have sunk, but for the moment we don't know by whom, by what kind of... There will be an investigation, it will be established, it is not a good time to circulate ungrounded speculation," Nicuşor Dan stated in a press conference, cited by Digi24.

iulian@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Dimitris Kolyris/Dreamstime.com)