The Comoros-flagged cargo ship Khoryv sank on Friday, October 23, after a drone strike 13 nautical miles off Romania's port of Constanta, killing at least one sailor and leaving three missing, Reuters reported. Romania's Naval Authority said the vessel, crewed by 13 Ukrainian and Azerbaijani sailors, sent a distress signal from just beyond Romanian territorial waters; nine sailors were rescued from the water and one body was recovered, and emergency vessels were still searching the surrounding waters in choppy seas and high wind. President Nicusor Dan said the ship had been hit by a drone and accused Russia of escalating its attacks on NATO's eastern flank. The attribution is Romania's official assessment, echoed by the European Commission; no Russian response had been reported in the coverage opened for this article.
What happened off Constanta on Friday?
The Khoryv got into trouble on Friday morning and went down with most of its crew pulled from the sea. The ship sent its distress signal at about 10 a.m. local time, Defence Blog reported, and video released by Romanian authorities showed only a small part of the capsized hull still visible above the waves as it sank, according to Reuters. The vessel was sailing from Eregli, Turkiye, to the Romanian port of Sulina with a cargo of ferrous metals, and its 13-member crew included 10 Ukrainian and three Azerbaijani nationals. Romanian rescue teams were continuing the search for the three missing sailors on Friday, in rough seas that had also kept a helicopter from joining the operation in the accounts carried by Romanian media.
Who does Romania blame, and what did the EU say?
President Dan blamed Russia, in terms that framed the sinking as a NATO-flank escalation rather than an isolated maritime incident. "It is part of Russia's escalation process in its war in Ukraine," Dan told reporters, later saying the ship had been hit by a drone, Reuters reported. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen addressed the attack in a post on X, writing that she was deeply alarmed by yet another Russian escalation in the Black Sea and that her thoughts were with the family of the sailor who was killed and the families of the three crew members still missing. "These reckless attacks target innocent lives and openly defy international law," von der Leyen wrote. Romanian authorities had not publicly released forensic evidence identifying the drone or its operator in the reporting opened for this article, and Moscow had not publicly responded to the accusations in that reporting.
How does this fit the two-week surge against Black Sea shipping?
It is the latest sinking in a sudden surge of attacks on commercial ships near NATO's Black Sea coast. The past two weeks have seen at least seven cargo ships hit off the coasts of Romania and Bulgaria, with some 30 sailors reported dead or missing, Reuters reported. Romanian broadcaster Digi24 put the count higher — 11 merchant vessels hit in the Black Sea in recent weeks, seven of them near Romania — in reporting cited by Defence Blog; the two counts cover different periods and are not reconciled here. Earlier this month the Turkish-owned Royad Mammadov caught fire and sank after a drone strike while carrying grain from the Ukrainian port of Izmail to Ravenna, Italy, killing two crew members, and a separate attack on the commercial vessel Wine Trader left several crew members missing, including a Croatian citizen. The Croatian Seafarers' Union has called for the waters off Bulgaria and Romania to be declared a combat zone.
What are NATO and Romania doing about it?
The alliance is reinforcing its Black Sea presence, and Bucharest's security council has already taken up the attacks. NATO said on Tuesday it would send more maritime patrol aircraft, radar systems and drones to the Black Sea, though it has not specified what capabilities would be sent, Reuters reported. On Saturday, Romanian jets shot down two of the latest generation of Russian drones over Romanian territorial waters. Romania's Supreme Council of National Defence discussed the situation at a meeting on October 22, and a NATO committee had previously met at the request of Romania and Bulgaria as the alliance stepped up military aircraft deployments over the area, Defence Blog reported.
Why are ships near Sulina being targeted?
The struck vessels have either been anchored near or headed towards the Sulina Canal, which links the Danube River to the Black Sea, Reuters reported. The canal has become the primary export route for Ukraine, one of the world's biggest grain and food-oil exporters, which has relied on Danube River ports and Romanian territorial waters as Russia has attacked Ukraine's own Black Sea ports. Ukraine, Romania and Bulgaria have called on NATO to do more to protect commercial shipping in the Black Sea. The Khoryv itself was bound for Sulina when it sank.
