Drone Attack Sinks Comoros-Flagged Cargo Ship Khoryv in the Black Sea

CONSTANȚA, Romania — A drone strike in the Black Sea sank a Comoros-flagged cargo ship off the Romanian coast, leaving one crew member dead, three missing, and nine rescued from the water. Romanian officials quickly condemned the attack, directly attributing the fatal strike to Russian military escalation in the region.

The cargo ship Khoryv, carrying a shipment of ferrous metals from the Turkish port of Ereğli to Sulina, issued an urgent distress call around 10:00 a.m. local time. The vessel was positioned approximately 13 nautical miles (24 kilometers) off the coast of Constanța—just outside Romania's territorial waters—when it was hit by a targeted drone.

The strike caused severe structural damage, causing the ship to roll over and capsize. Thirteen crew members—ten Ukrainian nationals and three Azerbaijani citizens—were on board at the time of the explosion.

A nearby commercial vessel quickly responded to the distress signal, retrieving nine surviving crew members and the body of one deceased Ukrainian sailor. Four of the survivors, including the ship's captain, were hospitalized for treatment. Search operations by the Romanian Coast Guard and the Romanian Agency for the Rescue of Human Life at Sea remained underway for the three missing sailors, though search efforts were severely constrained by bad weather and poor visibility that grounded aerial rescue helicopters.

Romanian President Nicușor Dan strongly condemned the attack, pointing to Moscow as the party responsible.

"It is clearly part of the escalation process that Russia is carrying out in the context of its war in Ukraine," President Dan told reporters. "It is time for Russia to take peace initiatives seriously, accept ceasefire proposals, and bring this war to an end."

The sinking of the Khoryv marks a dramatic rise in regional maritime danger. Over the past two weeks, at least seven commercial cargo vessels have been targeted near the coasts of Romania and Bulgaria, leaving around 30 sailors killed or missing.

Many of these attacks have clustered near the Sulina Channel—a vital maritime corridor connecting the Danube River to the Black Sea that became crucial for Ukrainian agricultural and bulk commodity exports following the disruption of main Ukrainian deep-water ports.

In light of the escalating maritime strikes, Romania, Ukraine, and Bulgaria have collectively urged NATO to bolster its surveillance and naval presence across the Black Sea to protect international merchant shipping lanes.