Romania Blames Russia for Drone Strike That Sank Cargo Ship in Black Sea

Romania blames Russia for drone strike that sank cargo ship in Black Sea

Romanian President Nicusor Dan has accused Russia of escalating its attacks on NATO's eastern flank after a drone strike sank a cargo ship off Romania's Black Sea coast on Friday, killing at least one sailor while three others remain missing.

The Comoros-flagged tanker Khoryv, carrying a crew of 13 Ukrainian and Azeri sailors, sent a distress signal 13 nautical miles off Romania's port of Constanta, just outside Romanian territorial waters. Nine sailors were pulled from the water alive, three are still missing, and one body has been recovered. Video released by Romanian authorities showed only a small part of the capsized hull still visible above the waves as the ship went down.

The attack is part of a sudden and deadly surge in strikes on commercial shipping: at least seven cargo ships have been hit off the coasts of Romania and Bulgaria in the past two weeks, with about 30 sailors reported dead or missing. NATO said on Tuesday it would send more maritime patrol aircraft, radar systems and drones to the Black Sea, and on Saturday Romanian jets shot down two of the latest generation of Russian drones over Romanian territorial waters. Most of the stricken vessels were anchored near or heading to the Sulina Canal, Ukraine's primary grain export route. Ukraine, Romania and Bulgaria have all called on NATO to do more to protect commercial shipping.

Source: read more

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Fairbairn's Walk-Off Field Goal Seals Wembley Thriller as Texans Edge Jaguars 34-31

Anthropic IPO: Public S-1 Filing Expected Today Ahead of $2 Trillion Listing

Netflix Beats Earnings but Slashes Ad Forecast — Stock Tumbles After Hours