Drone Strike Sinks Cargo Ship Off Romania, 1 Sailor Dead, 3 Missing; Bucharest Blames Russia

A drone struck the cargo ship Khoryv in the Black Sea on the morning of Friday, Oct. 23, setting it on fire and capsizing it about 13 nautical miles (15 miles) east of the Romanian port of Constanta. One crew member is dead. Three are missing.

The ship sent a distress signal around 10 a.m. local time. The Romanian Naval Authority said it suffered "major damage and capsized, with an imminent risk of sinking."

The rescue

Thirteen people were aboard: 10 Ukrainians and three Azerbaijanis. Romania's Interior Ministry said another commercial vessel in the area pulled 10 of them from the water. Nine were alive and one was dead.

The search for the other three continues. The Naval Authority said a helicopter could not be deployed because of bad weather and low visibility. Video released by the Interior Ministry showed only the hull sticking out of rough seas.

Shipping data from MarineTraffic shows the Khoryv left Turkey on Oct. 21 and was headed for Romania's Sulina port.

Who is blamed

The Naval Authority did not say what caused the fire, though multiple local media outlets reported the ship had been struck by a drone. President Nicușor Dan said on Facebook the ship was "struck by a drone and sank near Romanian territorial waters." He told reporters the attack was "clearly part of the escalation that Russia is carrying out in the context of the war in Ukraine."

Dan also said it is "time for Russia to take the peace initiatives put forward by the United States and Europe seriously, to accept the proposals for a ceasefire and to bring the war to an end."

Prime Minister Luca Niculescu called the strike "unacceptable and a flagrant violation of international law and specifically of freedom of navigation." European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she was "deeply alarmed by yet another Russian escalation in the Black Sea."

There was no immediate response from Moscow to Romania's accusation. In an earlier case, Russia's embassy in Romania said Moscow was not involved in drone attacks on vessels near the Romanian coast.

A pattern, not a one-off

At least seven other cargo vessels have been attacked this month off the Black Sea coasts of Romania and Bulgaria, both NATO members. Those attacks have left two people dead and 25 missing.

Seven crew members of the chemical tanker Wine Trader went missing off the coast of Romania after it caught fire following a drone attack. Last Saturday, Romanian pilots on air policing duty shot down two drones over Romania's territorial waters.

Recent targets were near or heading toward the Sulina Canal, which links the Danube to the Black Sea. It is a key corridor for Ukrainian grain and food exports.

The gap in Romania's response

The Khoryv was hit just outside Romanian territorial waters. New Defence Minister Ștefan Radu Oprea said the army can intervene only when drones enter Romania's airspace.

That is the problem. A NATO country can shoot down a drone over its own water. It has no stated authority to stop one hitting a commercial ship a few miles farther out.

Bucharest is moving to close the gap. After a meeting of Romania's Supreme Council of National Defence on Thursday, the presidency said "threats to freedom of navigation and critical infrastructure have increased significantly." Romania is looking at accelerating maritime surveillance, mine countermeasures and counter-drone capabilities.

Foreign Minister Dan Neculăescu said Romania is working with allies including Bulgaria and Turkey to "fast-track the additional surveillance capabilities."

NATO said after talks on Black Sea security on Tuesday that it is deploying additional maritime patrol aircraft, drones and radar systems to the area. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Oct. 13 that the alliance would adjust its Black Sea defense posture after the attacks on commercial ships. Romania and Bulgaria requested a special NATO consultation on the threat to civilian shipping.

What comes next

The immediate question is the three missing sailors, with weather blocking air search. The longer question is whether surveillance assets promised this week can be in place before the next ship is hit.