Ship catches fire in Romania’s waters amid rising attacks in the Black Sea

What the report says

A ship anchored in Romania’s territorial waters caught fire and its crew was evacuated, Romanian authorities said on Wednesday, as officials in the region investigate a new string of attacks and incidents in the Black Sea. Romania’s defence minister, Radu Miruta, said it was not yet clear whether a drone struck the vessel, identified as the Comoros-flagged tanker Yara J, and that the matter was under investigation.

The report comes after multiple drones entered Romanian airspace near the border with Ukraine on the same day, adding to concerns about spillover from the Russia-Ukraine war. Al Jazeera, citing Reuters, said the incident is part of wider worries about hybrid attacks at sea and repeated breaches of airspace in countries bordering the conflict zone.

The article also pointed to recent attacks off Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast, where two ships were hit by drones on Tuesday and one later sank, according to Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev. Earlier this month, another grain ship caught fire and sank outside Romania’s territorial waters, an episode Ukraine blamed on Russian drones. The incidents have raised questions about the safety of merchant shipping and key trade routes in the Black Sea, where mines and drone activity continue to threaten civilian and commercial vessels.