‘Black Sea breached by Russian drones’: Another cargo ship hit and sunk; 1 dead, 3 missing

[Financial News] A civilian cargo ship was attacked by an unmanned aerial vehicle (drone) and sank in the Black Sea near Romania, causing casualties. The Romanian government strongly condemned the attack, pointing to Russia as responsible.
According to AFP and other foreign media on the 23rd (local time), the Comorian-flagged cargo ship Horiu was struck by a drone and seriously damaged before capsizing and sinking in waters about 13 nautical miles (around 24 km) from Romania’s Port of Constanța that morning.
The vessel was carrying 13 crew members: 10 Ukrainians and three Azerbaijanis. Rescue authorities dispatched after receiving a distress signal, along with nearby merchant ships, rescued nine people. One person was found dead and three are missing. High winds and rough seas have made it impossible to deploy helicopters in the area, hampering the search at sea.
Romania’s top officials all directed their criticism squarely at Russia. Romanian President Nicușor Daniel Dan strongly condemned the attack, calling it “an act of escalating tensions on NATO’s eastern flank that Russia is carrying out in connection with the war in Ukraine.” Prime Minister Luca Niculescu also condemned it, calling it “a clear violation of international law and an unacceptable tragedy.”
Indiscriminate Russian attacks on merchant ships have intensified along the Black Sea coast, targeting the Sulina Canal on the Danube, one of Ukraine’s alternative grain export routes. In just the past two weeks, at least seven cargo ships have been attacked, including a chemical tanker struck on the 15th that left seven people missing; around 30 crew members have been killed or gone missing.
In response to the mounting security threats, NATO deployed additional maritime patrol aircraft, drones and radar systems to the Black Sea region on the 20th, further strengthening its surveillance. Romania, too, is substantially expanding its ability to intercept drones that illegally enter its airspace and territorial waters, as well as its maritime surveillance network. Romanian fighter jets had earlier directly shot down two of Russia’s latest-generation drones that entered airspace over the Black Sea last weekend.


[email protected] Park Ji-hyun Reporter