A Comoros-flagged tanker was reportedly struck by a drone near Romania’s Black Sea port of Sulina on October 14, causing a fire on board and raising concerns over maritime security in Romanian territorial waters.
The vessel, YARA J, a chemical and oil products tanker, was anchored approximately nine nautical miles from Sulina when the incident occurred at around 8:30 p.m. The ship had arrived from Turkey and was waiting for favourable weather conditions to enter the Sulina Canal and proceed towards Danube ports for loading.
The tanker was carrying no cargo and had a crew of 17 sailors from Syria, India and Iran. All crew members were reported safe, and the fire was extinguished without external assistance.
Adrian Mihălcioiu, head of Romania’s Free Union of Navigators, suggested the incident may have been a deliberate attack against a vessel potentially heading to Ukraine. He described it as a possible first case of a commercial vessel being deliberately targeted by a drone inside Romanian territorial waters. Previous drone incidents involving ships near Romania had occurred in the country's exclusive economic zone, outside its territorial waters.
Romania’s Ministry of National Defence reported detecting several aerial targets over the Black Sea on Wednesday evening. At 8:04 p.m., two targets entered Romanian airspace, after which radar contact with one was lost over the sea.
Authorities are investigating whether the missing aerial target could have been responsible for the incident.
Romania’s maritime rescue agency, ARSVOM, said its Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre requested assistance for YARA J at 8:25 p.m. The rescue vessel SAR APOLLO departed six minutes later, but its assistance was ultimately not required after the crew brought the fire under control.
Romanian Defence Minister Radu Miruță stressed that the cause of the incident had not yet been established.
He said military radar systems had not detected a drone travelling directly towards the tanker, and investigations were continuing to determine whether the vessel had actually been struck by an unmanned aircraft.
Nevertheless, Miruță described the possibility of such an incident occurring in Romanian territorial waters as a matter of significant concern.
Following the incident, the tanker remained operational, with its engines functioning and no injuries reported. The vessel subsequently weighed anchor and was expected to proceed towards the port of Constanța.
The origin of the suspected drone and whether the vessel was deliberately targeted have not been confirmed.
