A merchant ship that sank last night in Romania's exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea has reported that it had been hit by a drone, Digi 24 television reported, quoted by BTA.
This was announced by the interim Minister of Defense of Romania, Radi Miruca. According to him, the vessel sent a distress message through the signaling system, in which it indicated that it had been hit by an unmanned aerial vehicle.
The ship was transporting containers of sugar and peas. It came from the Ukrainian port of Reni and was heading to Turkey.
All sailors rescued
The incident occurred about 16 nautical miles from the Romanian coast, outside the country's territorial waters. After receiving the signal, the Romanian coast guard sent two vessels to assist the crew.
There were 12 sailors on board - eight Ukrainians and four Azerbaijanis.
Two of them jumped into the water and were rescued by the Romanian coast guard. One suffered an arm injury and was taken to hospital.
The intense fire led to the rapid sinking
The leader of the seafarers' union Adrian Mihalcoiu, quoted by Digi 24, said that the ship was probably hit by a so-called “drone dragon“, which sprays an incendiary mixture.
According to him, the unmanned aircraft caused a severe fire on board, as a result of which the vessel sank in a short time.
However, this version has not been officially confirmed by the Romanian authorities.
Investigation has begun
The Romanian authorities have begun an investigation to establish the causes and circumstances surrounding the incident.
President Nikusor Dan also stated that the ship was hit and sank, but called for no preliminary conclusions to be drawn about the perpetrator.
“The ship was hit and appears to have sunk, but at the moment we do not know by whom, in what way... There will be an investigation, it will be established, let's not speculate“, said the Romanian state chapter.
The incident occurs against the backdrop of the ongoing war in Ukraine and the growing risks to commercial shipping in the Black Sea.