Two Ships Ablaze in Romanian Black Sea Waters, Eight Sailors Missing

Rescuers are searching for eight missing sailors after a Black Sea ships fire left two chemical tankers ablaze inside Romania’s territorial waters overnight. Romania’s naval authority said it received an emergency alert from the San Marino-flagged tanker Wine Trader, which had 12 crew members on board when the fire broke out. Eight sailors were missing while four were safe. The Comoros-flagged chemical and oil tanker Yara J also caught fire near the mouth of the Danube’s Sulina Canal, but all of its crew were safe.

Key Facts

• What: Two chemical tankers — the Wine Trader (San Marino-flagged) and the Yara J (Comoros-flagged) — caught fire overnight inside Romanian territorial waters in the Black Sea.
• Missing: Eight of the Wine Trader’s 12 crew members; four were reported safe. All crew aboard the Yara J were safe.
• Where: Near the mouth of the Sulina Canal, which connects the Danube River to the Black Sea, where vessels often anchor amid congestion and weather delays.
• Cause: Not confirmed. Officials stopped short of linking the fires to drones reported in Romanian airspace.
• Context: At least five other ships were struck near Romanian and Bulgarian waters over the past 10 days, with at least 23 sailors lost.

Black Sea ships fire near a vital shipping lane

Both vessels were anchored near the mouth of the canal that links the Danube River with the open sea, a lane that has grown in importance as Ukraine reroutes its exports through Danube ports while its own Black Sea terminals face attack.

The fires drew an immediate emergency response, and search operations were under way on Thursday for the Wine Trader’s missing crew. Officials have not established whether the blazes were caused by an attack, an accident or another factor. Reports of drone activity in nearby airspace have added to unease, but investigators have confirmed no connection.

A widening pattern of Black Sea attacks

The incidents follow a string of drone strikes on at least five other cargo vessels off Romania and neighbouring Bulgaria over the past 10 days, attacks that cost at least 23 sailors their lives. Those earlier strikes took place just outside NATO’s territorial waters; the overnight fires broke out inside Romanian waters, marking a serious escalation.

Romanian officials stopped short of linking the fires to the Russian drones reported in the country’s airspace. Romania shares a 614-kilometre border with Ukraine, much of it along the Danube, and has reported repeated airspace breaches during the war — renewing concerns about safety along one of Europe’s busiest maritime corridors.

Grain trade faces fresh disruption

The Black Sea is a vital route for grain and agricultural exports from Ukraine and Russia, and further disruption to shipping could delay deliveries, raise transport costs and put pressure on global food supplies. With Ukraine increasingly relying on Danube ports, interruptions near the Sulina Canal carry outsized consequences.

Authorities are expected to give more details on the search effort and the cause of the fires. More coverage on the Europe desk.