Romania has resumed the search for seven sailors missing after the tanker Wine Trader was hit off the country's Black Sea coast. The San Marino-flagged vessel was hit on October 15, about a mile outside Romanian territorial waters.
There were 12 crew members on board. Five sailors were rescued, while the other seven are still missing. The operation is being hampered by strong winds and rough seas.
“Today, our colleagues returned to search the ship and continue the mission to identify the remaining crew members,“ a spokesman for the Romanian Interior Ministry said.
A Black Hawk helicopter will drop four rescuers on board the Wine Trader. Meanwhile, another ship will continue the search in the surrounding waters. The rescue operations are being carried out depending on weather conditions and sea state.
Two tankers hit in about 12 hours
The Wine Trader is one of two tankers hit by drones in about 12 hours off the Romanian Black Sea coast. The second vessel, the Yara J, was flagged to the Comoros and was hit in Romanian waters on October 14.
The crew of the Yara J were not injured and the ship was towed to the port of Constanta. Romanian President Nicos Dan said both ships were hit by drones. NATO also received an assessment from its military source that the drones were of Russian origin, but this information was not presented as an official conclusion about the perpetrator.
The two tankers were anchored near the Sulina Canal, which connects the Danube River to the Black Sea and is a key export route for Ukraine. The series of incidents heightens concerns that the war between Russia and Ukraine is creating increasing risks for commercial shipping in the western Black Sea.
Sources: news.bg, internazionale.it