In Romanian waters, a drone hit an oil tanker for the first time: where was the ship heading?

The oil tanker YARA J caught fire in Romanian territorial waters near the port of Sulina on the evening of October 14.

This is reported by Radio Romania Constanța.

The Comoros-flagged tanker had arrived from Turkey and was awaiting favorable weather conditions to pass through the Sulina Canal. The vessel was empty and was due to load at a Danube port.

A fire broke out on board after a suspected drone attack, which the crew extinguished on their own. All 17 sailors from Syria, India and Iran were unharmed.

Romanian Defense Minister Radu Miruce said the circumstances of the incident were still being investigated. He said military radars did not detect the drone, which was heading directly towards the tanker.

The Romanian Ministry of Defense reported that on the evening of October 14, two aerial targets flew into the country’s airspace. Radar contact with one of them was later lost over the sea.

Adrian Michelcea, head of the seafarers’ union, suggested that the ship could have been heading to Ukraine and that the attack was deliberate. He also noted that similar incidents had previously occurred outside Romania’s territorial waters, in its exclusive economic zone.

Also follow “Pryamim” on Facebook , X , Telegram , and Instagram .