BUCHAREST, Romania — Romanian authorities launched search and rescue operations off the Black Sea coast Thursday after a fire broke out on board a ship, leaving seven people missing. Five people were rescued and hospitalized. The cause of the fire aboard the San Marino-flagged Wine Trader, a chemical tanker traveling from Tunisia to Romania, wasn’t immediately clear, but a recent spate of drone strikes on ships in the Black Sea has raised fears that Russia’s war in Ukraine is spreading. A “group of air targets” was monitored overnight near Ukraine’s Snake Island, and a drone briefly entered Romania’s airspace at 1:34 a.m. southeast of Sulina, before disappearing from radar, according to Romania’s Ministry of National Defense. There were 12 people aboard the ship when the fire broke out 13 nautical miles (15 miles) southeast of the port town of Sulina, according to the Romanian Naval Authority. According to initial medical assessments, one person sustained scalp burns, another suffered from mild smoke inhalation, while the three others appeared unharmed, the Department for Emergency Situations said. Similar drone incursions have occurred this month in the exclusive economic zones of Romania and Bulgaria, both NATO and European Union members. A fire was reported on the Comoros-flagged Yara J, a chemical and oil tanker traveling from Turkey to Sulina, Romania, on Wednesday evening in Romanian territorial waters. The crew was safe. Romania’s acting defense minister, Radu Miruta, said that an investigation was underway, but that no drone was seen on military radars heading toward that tanker. On Tuesday, drone strikes on two ships off the coast of Bulgaria prompted emergency rescue operations for 11 crew members from the HS Dignity, a Guinea-Bissau-flagged cargo ship, who remain missing. The other ship, a Ukrainian-operated coastal freighter named Chelsea 3, was sailing under a Maltese flag. Rescuers evacuated all 15 crew members, with five receiving treatment for minor injuries. The crew reported that the ship’s deck and hull were hit by three aerial drones. The incidents on Tuesday, for which Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev said Russia was likely responsible, came a week after sea and aerial drones struck two other commercial vessels in Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea. A Togo-flagged ship sank, while a Bulgarian ferry evacuated the 18-member crew of a damaged Palau-flagged vessel. A day earlier, on Oct. 5, a Turkish-owned cargo ship carrying corn caught fire following a drone attack and later sank in the Black Sea off Romania’s coast. Two people died and 11 crew members were rescued. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said on X on Thursday that he had a meeting with Radev and Romanian President Nicusor Dan about security in the Black Sea and “the latest attacks on commercial shipping.” “NATO has strengthened our posture along the eastern flank including with increasing counter-drone capabilities,” he said. “NATO will continue to work closely with our Allies in the Black Sea, adjusting our deterrence and defence posture as needed.” The Associated Press
