Two vessels reportedly hit by drones near Romanian territorial waters, crew missing
Two ships were reportedly hit by drones in the Black Sea between Wednesday and Thursday, October 14 to 15. The first ship was well within Romanian territorial waters, making its suspected attack the first incident of this kind since the start of the war in Ukraine.
Radu Dumitrescu · Journalist
· 4 min read
The first ship hit was Yara J, an empty oil tanker, hit on Wednesday, October 14, possibly by a drone, in Romanian territorial waters.
Empty oil tanker on fire
The ship had been anchored approximately nine nautical miles (around 16.7 km) from the coast, according to the Maritime Rescue Coordination Center (MRCC), when a fire broke out.
The Romanian Agency for Saving Human Life at Sea (ARSVOM) reported that at 20:25, the Maritime Rescue Coordination Center (MRCC) requested the agency’s intervention to carry out a rescue mission involving the Yara J.
Minutes later, the sailors on board the ship told the MRCC the fire had been extinguished and that everyone on board was safe, and they did not need support or assistance.
The Yara J, sailing under the flag of the Comoros Islands, was coming from Turkey and heading towards Izmail, where it was due to load oil. The ship had 17 sailors on board. Fortunately, no crew members were injured.
“The vessel was attacked, apparently not very seriously. The crew managed to extinguish the fire. The crew consists of 10 Indians, six Syrians, and an Iraqi captain. This is unprecedented. It is the first time a vessel has been attacked in Romanian territorial waters. (...) There is a Black Sea crisis at the moment, and we are very close to declaring this area a high-risk zone, which would practically be a catastrophe for all the countries bordering it,” said Adrian Mihălcioiu, president of the Romanian Seafarers’ Free Trade Union (SLN), cited by ProTV.
Romanian interim defense minister Radu Miruță noted that the vessel was empty, waiting for several days.
"An operation is underway to verify whether it was hit by drones or not. No drone approaching this vessel was seen on the Ministry of National Defense’s radars," he said.
The minister added that the vessel headed towards the Port of Constanța, where checks will be carried out.
The same day, the Ministry of National Defense announced that two drones had entered Romanian airspace at 20:04. Radar contact was lost with one of them, while the other headed towards Ukrainian airspace, where it was shot down. However, no connection between the incidents was announced.
Chemical tanker reportedly hit
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