Two ships ablaze after drone attack off Romanian coast, 8 sailors missing

BUCHAREST — Rescuers were searching for eight missing crew members on Thursday from one of two chemical tankers that caught fire overnight just outside Romanian ‌territorial waters in the Black Sea, Romanian officials said.Romanian President Nicusor Dan said the two ships had been struck by drones, but declined to say whether they were Russian.”Two air drones hit them,” Dan told reporters in Brussels ahead of a summit of EU leaders, adding only a few hours had elapsed since the ​strikes and Romania was waiting for more information.The two ships hit overnight were ​both anchored in the Black Sea near the mouth of the Sulina canal leading into the Danube River, a major ⁠shipping route used by Ukraine as Russia has attacked Ukraine’s own Black Sea ports. One was in Romanian waters, the other just outside.A swarm of Russian drones was detected overnight not far from the scene, near Ukraine’s Snake Island.The incidents follow drone ​strikes on at least five other cargo ships near the coasts of Romania and neighbouring fellow NATO member Bulgaria over the past 10 days. At least ​23 sailors were lost from those strikes, which took place just outside NATO’s territorial waters.On Tuesday, two merchant ships were struck by drones further south along the coast of Bulgaria, Romania’s neighbor, and one of the vessels sank, leaving 11 crew members missing. Bulgaria said it suspected Russia was behind that attack.The Romanian interior ministry has released a video showing one of the helicopters hovering above the vessel.The priority is now to reach the four crew members confirmed to be alive, while ensuring the safety of rescue teams with very high waves reported in the area.The tanker, which was sailing from Tunisia to Romania, reported several explosions on board at about 07:00 local time (05:00 GMT).Romanian media cited crews on nearby ships as saying the Wine Trader was hit by two drones.The leaders of Romania and Bulgaria are due to discuss shortly whether Article 4 of the Nato treaty should be invoked.This allows any member of the military alliance to request consultations with its allies if it believes its territorial integrity or security is threatened.The Romanian president said: “We want to have all the information about what happened, but there will be a response from the Romanian state.”Dan is due to meet Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte in Brussels alongside Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev to discuss growing security threats in the Black Sea region.The Romanian president said discussions would focus on operational requirements, including additional equipment to protect shipping in the area.On Tuesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen spoke of the Black Sea becoming “another front of escalation of the Russian war in Ukraine. This is unacceptable”.Russia’s military has recently intensified its strikes on vessels in the area, as part of its war against Ukraine.