Seven Missing After Drone Strikes Hit Tankers in Romanian Waters as Bucharest Seeks NATO Command

Two commercial tankers caught fire inside Romania's territorial waters overnight following suspected Russian drone strikes, leaving seven sailors missing. The incidents mark a significant escalation, representing the first time vessels have been struck directly within the maritime borders of a NATO member state.[1][2]

The San Marino-flagged Wine Trader issued an emergency alert early Thursday morning after a fire broke out approximately 13 nautical miles southeast of the Romanian port of Sulina. Rescue teams dispatched by the Romanian interior ministry, including two Black Hawk helicopters, managed to save five crew members.[1]

However, seven sailors from the Wine Trader remain unaccounted for as of Thursday afternoon. Rescue operations have been severely hampered by poor weather conditions, leaving the dispatched medical vessels struggling to safely approach the burning ship.[1]

"At the moment, the rescue cannot be done safely because of very big waves," the Romanian interior ministry said in a statement regarding the ongoing search efforts.[1]

Hours earlier, the Comoros-flagged chemical and oil tanker Yara J also caught fire while anchored roughly 10 nautical miles from Sulina. The 17-member crew, comprising Syrian, Indian, and Iranian nationals, managed to extinguish the blaze themselves using the vessel's onboard firefighting equipment.[4][5]

Push for a Joint Command

The Yara J sustained no casualties and its engines remained fully operational after the fire was contained. This allowed the tanker to proceed toward the Romanian port of Constanța under its own power, escorted by the SAR Apollo rescue vessel dispatched by Romanian maritime authorities.[4]

While Romanian officials confirmed that Russian drones had breached the country's airspace overnight, they initially stopped short of explicitly declaring the munitions responsible for the fires. However, the timing and trajectory of the airspace incursions align perfectly with the strikes on the anchored vessels.[1][5]

The attacks have triggered an immediate diplomatic and military response from NATO's eastern members. Romanian Defence Minister Radu-Dinel Miruță proposed that Bucharest and Sofia sign a joint letter to NATO leadership, formally requesting the establishment of a dedicated military command for Black Sea coastal states.[3][5]

Under the Romanian proposal, the leadership and location of the new maritime command would rotate among NATO's Black Sea members, which include Romania, Bulgaria, and Turkey. Miruță stated that Romania is prepared to take charge and host the headquarters on its own coast starting in 2028.[5]

A Widening Maritime Threat

Until the Romanian facility is ready, Bucharest has offered to support locating the interim command structure on Turkey's Black Sea coast. Both Romanian and Bulgarian military officers would participate in the rotational leadership to ensure coordinated regional defense and intelligence sharing.[5]

The push for a unified command follows an urgent telephone conversation between Miruță and Bulgarian Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov. The two leaders agreed that the escalating threat to commercial shipping, including drones and floating mines, can no longer be treated as a series of isolated national problems.[3][5]

The overnight fires inside Romanian waters represent a geographic expansion of a campaign that has targeted commercial shipping across the western Black Sea. Over the past 10 days, at least five other cargo ships have been struck near the coasts of Romania and Bulgaria.[1]

Those earlier incidents, which resulted in the loss of at least 23 sailors, occurred just outside NATO territorial waters in the countries' exclusive economic zones. The targeted vessels included the Maltese-flagged Chelsea 3 and the Azov Concord, which sank off the Bulgarian coast after a strike.[1][4]

Securing the Danube Route

Bulgaria has already requested technical assistance from the European Union and NATO to identify the origin of the drones that struck vessels in its economic zone. Bulgarian officials summoned the Russian ambassador, arguing that the disruption to regional shipping directly benefits Moscow's strategic objectives.[4]

The waters near the Sulina Canal have become a critical and highly congested bottleneck for international shipping. Vessels frequently anchor in the area while waiting to transit into the Danube River, which has served as a primary export route for Ukrainian grain since the war disrupted deep-sea ports.[1]

This congestion makes the anchored tankers highly vulnerable to stray or targeted munitions. Romania, which shares a 614-kilometer border with Ukraine, has reported repeated breaches of its airspace by Russian drones over the past several years, but direct hits on ships inside its territorial waters are unprecedented.[1]

The International Transport Workers' Federation confirmed that the surviving crews are receiving support, but the maritime industry remains on high alert. The consecutive strikes have raised severe concerns about the viability of the Danube export corridor if vessels cannot safely anchor while awaiting transit clearance.[1][4]

Testing Alliance Defenses

The incidents are increasingly viewed as a test of NATO's deterrence posture along its southeastern flank. Alliance officials have previously deployed enhanced air policing and counter-drone capabilities to Romania, but the maritime domain has remained vulnerable to low-flying munitions targeting stationary commercial assets.[3][4]

As the search for the missing Wine Trader crew continues, the focus shifts to Brussels, where Romanian and Bulgarian leaders are expected to press for immediate maritime security enhancements. The alliance now faces mounting pressure to secure its territorial waters before further commercial casualties occur.[1][3]