Seven sailors missing after drones strike tankers off Romania, officials say

Rescuers searched the Black Sea off Romania’s Danube mouth on Thursday, October 15, for seven missing sailors after drones seem to have set two chemical tankers ablaze near the Sulina canal, a route Ukraine uses for exports, according to Reuters, the BBC, Al Jazeera, The Guardian and Euronews. Romanian President Nicușor Dan said drones hit both ships; a Nato military source told Reuters the drones came from Russia; Dan declined to name Russia, Reuters and The Guardian report.

Al Jazeera, citing Romania’s naval authority, says rescuers searched for seven missing sailors from the San Marino-flagged Wine Trader and that five other people got rescued. The BBC matches that 7-of-12 missing tally and says the Wine Trader reported several explosions around 07:00 local (05:00 GMT) while 13 nautical miles (24 km) east of the Danube mouth at Sulina. The Associated Press (WebSearch excerpt; apnews.com blocked this desk’s fetch) likewise credits the Romanian Naval Authority with the 13-nautical-mile figure southeast of Sulina and the five-rescued / seven-missing split.

Where the Wine Trader sat relative to Romania’s 12-nautical-mile territorial sea still splits. Reuters says the tanker got hit 13 nautical miles southeast of the Sulina canal, “one mile outside Romanian waters,” and that of the two anchored vessels near the canal mouth, “one was inside Romanian territorial waters and the other just outside.” CBC’s Reuters reprint summarizes both tankers as catching fire “just outside Romanian territorial waters.” Euronews quotes the Romanian Naval Authority as placing the Wine Trader fire “inside Romania’s territorial waters, approximately 13 nautical miles southeast of the city of Sulina.” The Guardian’s Nato-source quote to Reuters speaks of fires “on board two tankers inside Romanian territorial waters.” This desk flags the inside/outside conflict and does not pick a side.

The second ship, the Comoros-flagged chemical and oil tanker Yara J, caught fire late Wednesday after a strike, outlets agree. Reuters places that hit 8–10 miles southeast of Sulina inside Romanian waters. The Guardian says the Yara J got struck “just inside Romanian waters” late Wednesday and that all its crew stayed safe. The BBC and Al Jazeera say the Yara J crew doused the flames themselves. Euronews quotes Romanian Defence Minister Radu Miruță on Wednesday: “Whether it was struck by a drone or not, an investigation is currently underway,” and: “This is a matter of significant gravity, given that such incidents are occurring in Romanian territorial waters.”

Dan tied the two fires to drones on Thursday. Al Jazeera quotes him at the EU leaders’ summit: “Two drones hit them.” He added, per Al Jazeera: “There will be a reaction from the Romanian state” once more information arrives. The BBC renders a close line: “We want to have all the information about what happened, but there will be a response from the Romanian state.” Reuters and The Guardian say he declined to say whether Russia bore responsibility for the strikes.

A Nato military source went further on origin. The Guardian, citing that source’s remarks to Reuters, quotes: “The drones that caused the fires on board two tankers inside Romanian territorial waters were of Russian origin.” CBC’s Reuters reprint says Romanian officials described Russian drones as having “strayed into national airspace” in connection with the tanker fires. This desk treats the Nato-source attribution and the CBC paraphrase as single-source claims relative to each other and to Dan’s refusal to name Russia.

The Guardian quotes Dan on X after a meeting with Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Rumen Radev and Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte: “Commercial ships are being attacked and sunk,” and: “Seafarers killed, injured and missing very close to the shores of Romania and Bulgaria. This is unacceptable and it has to stop.” Dan said they agreed “to strengthen our defences in the Black Sea,” The Guardian reports. Rutte said, per The Guardian: “Nato will continue to work closely with our allies in the Black Sea, adjusting our deterrence and defence posture as needed.” Al Jazeera carries a longer Rutte X post that also says: “NATO has strengthened our posture along the eastern flank including with increasing counter-drone capabilities.”

The BBC says Romania’s leaders and Bulgaria’s leaders planned to discuss whether to invoke Nato’s Article 4, which lets any ally request consultations if it believes its territorial integrity or security faces a threat. A Nato official told The Guardian the tanker issue would come up at a North Atlantic Council meeting next week. Al Jazeera says Dan described a Nato summit track on drone incursions into eastern European airspace.

Moscow offered a different account of Thursday’s hits. The BBC says Russia claimed it struck two cargo ships carrying military cargo bound for Ukraine’s Odesa port and did not name the vessels. The BBC also says a swarm of Russian drones got detected overnight near Ukraine’s Snake Island, not far from the Sulina scene. This desk could not read a primary Russian Defence Ministry statement; the claim arrives via the BBC alone in this source set.

Search conditions looked rough. Al Jazeera quotes Romania’s Interior Ministry: “At the moment, the rescue cannot be done safely because of very big waves.” The ministry said it sent two Black Hawk helicopters and two ships with medical staff, Al Jazeera and Reuters report; the BBC likewise cites two Black Hawks and two rescue boats, and says the priority turned to reaching four crew members confirmed alive while waves stayed high. Euronews quotes the Naval Authority: “Five of the sailors on board the Wine Trader have been rescued, a further seven people are still missing.” Euronews also says VesselFinder listed the Wine Trader as a chemical tanker and that Romanian authorities said it carried no cargo — matching the BBC’s empty-of-cargo line.

Romanian media, cited by the BBC and by Euronews Romania sources, said nearby crews reported two drones hitting the Wine Trader. That nearby-crew account sits one step removed from the Naval Authority’s fire report and from Dan’s “Two drones hit them” line; this desk keeps it attributed to media-cited crews, not to a named official statement.

The Sulina strikes arrive days after similar merchant-ship attacks off Bulgaria. The Guardian and Reuters say at least 23 sailors got reported missing or killed after attacks on commercial shipping near Bulgaria and Romania in about the past 10 days. On Tuesday, drones hit ships off Bulgaria; the Guinea-Bissau-flagged Dignity sank and 11 crew remained missing in those accounts, The Guardian and Euronews report. Radev said after arriving in Brussels, per The Guardian: “The results of this attack favour Russia. However, we don’t have any solid evidence that the drones are Russians.”

The Guardian says a draft EU summit declaration would call attacks on civilian shipping, including “member state-flagged vessels, such as the recent attacks in Bulgaria’s and Romania’s exclusive economic zones in the Black Sea,” “unacceptable” and “a serious violation of international and maritime law.” That draft wording uses EEZ language, which sits beside — and does not settle — the territorial-waters conflict over the Wine Trader’s exact mile mark.

Reading note: this desk wrote from outlet copies and WebSearch excerpts, not from a Romanian Naval Authority primary PDF or Dan’s full X thread. The Investing.com Reuters page and apnews.com returned blocks to direct fetch; Reuters lines rest on the Investing.com index excerpt plus CBC’s Reuters reprint, and AP lines rest on a WebSearch excerpt. Later casualty or attribution updates may change the picture.

Correction · Oct 15, 2026, 6:58 PM PT: An earlier version of this story said The BBC and Al Jazeera (AFP, AP and Reuters) both report that Romania’s naval authority listed seven of 12 crew missing. Only the BBC gives the 12-crew total (seven of 12 crew members missing, in the BBC’s wording); Al Jazeera, citing Romania’s naval authority, says seven people went missing and five got rescued, without stating a 12-crew total. The key facts and Evidence status now credit each outlet for its own wording.