Black Sea inferno: Tankers ablaze, seven sailors missing as drone fears send shockwaves through NATO

Two tankers caught fire off Romania as authorities investigated a suspected drone strike, raising fresh alarms over commercial shipping in a region increasingly exposed to the Russia-Ukraine war.

Seven sailors are missing after a chemical tanker caught fire in the Black Sea off Romania, as a second vessel was engulfed in a separate incident and drone incursions heightened fears that the Russia-Ukraine conflict is spreading further into one of Europe’s most sensitive maritime corridors.

Romanian authorities said the San Marino-flagged Wine Trader reported a fire and initially eight missing crew members at about 7am local time on Thursday. The number was subsequently revised to seven, with search-and-rescue operations continuing near the port city of Sulina.

The incident came hours after Romanian officials began investigating a reported drone strike on another chemical tanker, the Comoros-flagged Yara J, in the same broad maritime area. The vessel’s crew, comprising sailors from Syria, India and Iran, were reported safe after the ship caught fire on Wednesday evening.

The circumstances surrounding both incidents remained unclear. Romanian officials had not established whether the Wine Trader fire was connected to a drone attack, while the defence ministry said its radar had not detected a drone approaching the Yara J at the time of the reported strike.

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But the incidents have sharpened concerns over the safety of commercial shipping as attacks involving Russia and Ukraine intensify across the Black Sea, threatening vessels operating near NATO territory.

Romanian defence minister Radu Miruță said authorities were investigating the reported attack on the Yara J, describing the situation as serious because such incidents were occurring in Romanian territorial waters.

“Whether it was struck by a drone or not, an investigation is currently underway,” he said, according to Romanian media.

Miruță also pointed to two drones that entered Romanian airspace at about 10.26pm on Wednesday. The relationship, if any, between those incursions and the tanker incident had not been established.

Adrian Mihalcioiu, head of Romania’s Free Union of Seafarers, described the Yara J incident as an intentional attack on a ship in Romanian waters travelling towards Ukraine, according to broadcaster Digi24. That assessment had not been independently confirmed.

The danger is no longer confined to the immediate battle zone. On Tuesday night, two cargo ships were struck by drones near Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast, according to Bulgarian prime minister Rumen Radev, who called the attacks “absolutely unacceptable”.

Sofia has informed its permanent representatives to NATO and the European Union and is seeking assistance to strengthen surveillance of its airspace and maritime approaches, as well as its capacity to respond to further incidents.

The sequence of events points to mounting pressure on the Black Sea’s commercial routes, which have become increasingly important — and increasingly dangerous — since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Kyiv has expanded its campaign against Russian maritime interests, including launching Operation Molochka in July to target vessels associated with Russia’s so-called shadow fleet in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov. The campaign forms part of Ukraine’s effort to weaken Moscow’s ability to sustain its war and maintain control over occupied Crimea.

Russia, meanwhile, has repeatedly targeted Ukrainian ports and civilian shipping since withdrawing from the United Nations- and Turkey-brokered grain deal in 2023. Ukraine subsequently established its own maritime corridor to maintain exports through the Black Sea.

The risks have extended to vessels with links to countries outside the conflict. In August, Turkey called on Moscow and Kyiv to agree to a moratorium on attacks against ships after a series of incidents involving Turkish-flagged vessels.

Kyiv has indicated that it is willing to accept such a moratorium. Moscow has shown little interest in de-escalation.

The latest fires underscore the difficulty of protecting civilian shipping in waters where commercial traffic, military operations and drone activity increasingly overlap. They also present a particular challenge for Romania and Bulgaria, both NATO members whose Black Sea coastlines lie close to the theatre of war.

For now, investigators face a more immediate task: establishing what happened aboard the two tankers and determining whether the fires were connected to the wider campaign of maritime attacks.

With seven sailors still missing from the Wine Trader and the cause of the incidents unresolved, the latest emergency has delivered another stark warning about the growing hazards facing merchant ships in the Black Sea.