Eight crew missing after drone attack on tanker off Romania

Naval authorities in Romania report that eight out of twelve crew members are currently missing following a drone strike that left a San Marino-flagged tanker ablaze off the country's Black Sea coast. The Wine Trader was positioned 13 nautical miles, equivalent to 24 kilometers, east of the mouth of the River Danube at Sulina when it reported explosions and a fire on Thursday morning.

Romanian President Nicușor Dan later confirmed that the vessel had indeed been struck by drones. Overnight, a swarm of Russian drones was detected not far from the incident site near Ukraine's Snake Island. Meanwhile, Moscow stated that two cargo ships carrying military supplies toward Ukraine's Odesa port were hit during their sea crossing, though it did not identify the specific vessels.

This incident follows an event on Tuesday when two merchant ships came under drone attack further south along the coast of Bulgaria, Romania's neighbor. One of those vessels subsequently sank, leaving 11 crew members missing. Bulgaria expressed strong suspicion that Russia was behind the attack and summoned the country's envoy in response.

"We want to have all the information about what happened, but there will be a response from the Romanian state."

Nicușor Dan, Romanian President

Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event

Search and rescue operations for the eight missing personnel from the Wine Trader are actively ongoing. Romanian authorities have deployed two Black Hawk helicopters and two rescue boats to the area, with the interior ministry releasing footage showing a helicopter hovering above the stricken ship. Rescuers face challenging conditions with very high waves, making the immediate priority reaching the four crew members confirmed to be alive while maintaining team safety.