On the morning of Oct. 23, the cargo ship KHORYV (IMO: 8138712) capsized and sank off the coast of Romania, the press service of the country’s Interior Ministry has reported, along with local media. Romanian President Nicușor Dan has placed the blame for the accident on Russia.
At around 10 a.m. local time, the coast guard received a report of a fire on the vessel, which was located approximately 13 nautical miles (roughly 24 km) from the port of Constanța.
The Starboard Maritime Intelligence service map shows several rescue vessels heading toward the ship at the time of the distress signal.
The cargo ship had 13 people on board when the fire broke out. Nine were picked up by another commercial vessel that was in the vicinity (apparently the Norwegian SARTOR). One person was killed, and three are still listed as missing.
The KHORYV was sailing from the Turkish port of Ereğli, also on the Black Sea. Its destination was listed as the Romanian port of Sulina at the mouth of the Danube — the main shipping route that connects the Black Sea with Ukrainian ports on the river. At the end of September, KHORYV had already traveled this route to reach the port of Galați, one of the most important shipment points for exporting Ukrainian grain.
Romanian President Nicușor Dan writes that the vessel was hit by a drone and calls the incident “an example of the tragic consequences of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.”
In recent weeks, at least six civilian vessels have been attacked off the coast of Romania and neighboring Bulgaria. Against this backdrop, Romania proposed creating a joint command for Black Sea NATO countries to defend against drones. This week, NATO spokesperson Allison Hart said that the alliance will strengthen its grouping of maritime patrol aircraft and drones in the region.
