Human remains believed to belong to six sailors have been found aboard the Wine Trader tanker (IMO 8808707), which was attacked by Russian drones off the coast of Romania in the Black Sea on Oct. 15. Bulgarian broadcaster NOVA reported that the remains were discovered during repair work at the port of Varna, where the damaged vessel was brought in early November. Seven of the 12 crew members had been listed as missing after the attack; five were rescued.
The Varna prosecutor’s office confirmed that severely damaged human remains had been found, ordering DNA testing to be conducted to confirm the identities of the dead. The official death toll has not yet been established. A Bulgarian law enforcement source told AFP that the remains most likely belonged to six people, but the condition of the remains made it impossible to determine the exact number of victims, according to Singaporean newspaper The Straits Times.
The San Marino-flagged Wine Trader was attacked on the morning of Oct. 15 around 24 kilometers from the Romanian port of Sulina, near the mouth of the Danube River, not far from the Ukrainian border. The ship was located approximately one nautical mile outside Romania’s territorial waters, within the country’s exclusive economic zone. A fire broke out aboard the tanker after it was struck by drones. Reuters reported that a NATO military source said the drones that attacked the Wine Trader and another tanker in the area were of Russian origin. Romanian President Nicușor Dan confirmed that the attacks had taken place but did not identify the responsible party.
However, additional evidence pointing to Russian involvement was identified by the Bulgarian maritime publication Maritime.bg. On Oct. 18, Russia’s Defense Ministry published video of a strike on a merchant vessel that it claimed was carrying military cargo destined for Ukraine. Maritime.bg compared the footage with photographs of the Wine Trader and found similarities in the hull shape, silhouette, and placement of the ship’s superstructure.
The Russian footage also shows a red-hulled rescue vessel. Maritime.bg compared the video with Sentinel-2 satellite imagery from Oct. 15 and found that the Romanian rescue ship Apollo, which has similar coloring, was near the tanker at the time of the attack. The cloud cover and damage visible on the tanker also matched images documented by Romanian rescue services.
Salvatore Adorno, a representative of the company managing the Wine Trader, later confirmed to Maritime.bg that the ship shown in the Russian Defense Ministry footage was the tanker in question. He said three drones attacked the vessel: two struck the accommodation superstructure, and a third hit the deck. Adorno said he was convinced Russia was responsible for the attack. He also said one of the seven missing sailors was a Russian citizen, while the other six were citizens of Benin.
There is no evidence that the tanker had any connection to the Ukrainian military. According to a statement from the San Marino Ship Register, Wine Trader was bound for Moldova in order to load vegetable oil. The vessel was empty at the time of the attack. The Russian Defense Ministry’s claim that it struck a ship carrying military cargo for Ukraine therefore does not match the known circumstances of Wine Trader’s voyage.
Another cargo ship, Khoryv, sank off the Romanian coast on Oct. 23. Romanian authorities said it had also been attacked by a drone. Of the 13 people were aboard, nine were rescued, one was killed, and three were reported missing. Romanian President Dan characterized the incident as “an example of the tragic consequences of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.”
According to The Insider’s count, at least nine civilian vessels were attacked off the coasts of Romania and Bulgaria over the first four weeks of October. In response, Romania proposed creating a joint command among NATO’s Black Sea members in order to protect against drones. NATO also announced that it would reinforce its deployment of maritime patrol aircraft and drones in the Black Sea.
