Two commercial ships were hit by unmanned aerial vehicles near the Romanian city of Sulina on the evening of November 14. The attack took place at the anchorage in Romania’s territorial waters, Maritime.bg reports.
One of the affected vessels was the chemical tanker EVIAPETROL V, which sails under the Greek flag. A fire broke out on board after the strike, but the crew managed to bring it under control. The second ship was the bulk carrier MARSOL, registered under the flag of Saint Kitts and Nevis.
According to Maritime.bg, both ships reported by radio that no crew members had been injured. After the incident, EVIAPETROL V headed south, while MARSOL also left the area of the strike. There is no information that the third ship to depart from the Sulina roadstead was affected.
Romanian authorities detected an airborne target
So far, there has been no official confirmation from the Romanian institutions that the two commercial ships were hit. Romania’s Ministry of National Defence said that its radar system had detected an airborne target east of Snake Island.
“This evening, November 14, the surveillance radar system of the Ministry of National Defence detected an airborne target east of Snake Island,” the statement cited by Dir.bg said. Two F-16 fighter jets took off from the 86th Air Base, while the National Military Command Centre notified the emergency services.
At 8:51 p.m. local time, a warning was sent via the RO-Alert system to residents of the eastern part of Tulcea County. The air-raid alert was cancelled at 9:37 p.m.
Cause of the attack remains unclear
Reports of the ships being hit have been confirmed by specialised maritime sources and media outlets, but as of their publication there was no official information about those responsible, the type of drones used, or the exact extent of the damage to MARSOL. No independent confirmation of the strike on the Greek tanker has been provided either, Flank notes.
The incident is the latest involving commercial shipping in the Sulina area. So far, no casualties, crew evacuations or marine pollution have been reported.
Sources: maritime.bg, dnes.dir.bg, flank.bg