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Russian drones have struck at least a dozen merchant ships in the Black Sea in recent weeks, killing more mariners than have died during the Iran war, CNN reported.
The attacks appear aimed at restricting trade through Ukrainian ports, which handle almost all of the country’s grain exports. Some strikes have taken place close to, or inside, the territorial waters of NATO members Romania and Bulgaria.
The campaign follows months of Ukrainian attacks on ships using Russian ports in the Black Sea and the adjoining Sea of Azov. The Russian strikes have intensified over the past month, with Russia at times combining maritime and aerial drones, according to shipping and security sources. It has also begun using newer jet-powered drones, which are faster and harder to intercept, as well as drones capable of hitting moving targets.
At least 30 mariners have been killed or are missing in the recent surge, according to maritime tracking services and the Romanian and Bulgarian governments.
In the latest strike described in the report, three drones hit the container ship “Contship Jet” last week as it approached a Romanian port. A French surveillance plane filmed a surface drone closing in on the vessel. Video later showed the ship listing heavily before it sank. It was about 25 kilometres (15 miles) from the Bulgarian coast when it was hit.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the increase in attacks was “turning the Black Sea into a zone of danger for civilian shipping.”
Russia increased missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian Black Sea ports, particularly Odesa, over the summer. Ukraine exported 1.09 million tons of wheat in September, half the 2.05 million tons exported a year earlier, according to government figures. Ukraine then tried to divert exports to smaller ports on the Danube River, which borders Romania, but Russian drones followed.
Attacks kill sailors and damage merchant ships
The increase began in early October, when air and naval drones struck the Turkish-owned “Alfa Watan” as it travelled from Egypt to the Romanian port of Sulina. Nine Syrian crew members and one Egyptian national died, and the ship sank.
Six days later, 11 crew members aboard the “HS Dignity”, most of them Syrian, died after the ship was hit at night off the Bulgarian coast. Syrian seafarers’ activist Mohammad Hajjouz told CNN that, after the first strike, the crew saw an unmanned surface vessel approaching before it hit the ship.
Unable to launch the lifeboats fully, crew members jumped into the water. “They began calling out to one another and trying to regroup, but the sea was rough and the water was extremely cold, causing crew members to drift apart,” Hajjouz said.
Some shipping companies continue to operate in the Black Sea despite the danger. “Economic hardship pushes sailors to accept work in dangerous areas. They are sometimes enticed by offers of additional pay,” Hajjouz said. “Others are compelled to work in these areas due to limited employment opportunities.”
On October 15, four more merchant ships were targeted, including in Romanian territorial waters and its exclusive economic zone, and eight people were killed, Romanian Foreign Minister Oana-Silvia Toiu said.
The chemical tankers “Wine Trader” and “Yara J” caught fire after being hit near the Sulina Canal, which connects the Black Sea to the Danube. Six Beninese nationals and one Russian national aboard “Wine Trader” were killed. The ship’s operator said it had been hit by three drones.
Maritime analysts at shipping intelligence firm “Ambrey” said Russian forces were striking vessels linked to Ukrainian trade inside the exclusive economic zones of two NATO members. The company added that Romanian and Bulgarian waters should no longer be treated as safe by default, and said several ships were very likely targeted because of their links to Ukrainian grain exports.
Moscow has not acknowledged all the attacks. In several cases, however, Russia’s Ministry of Defense has said the targeted vessels were carrying “military and dual-use cargo” for the Ukrainian armed forces.
Romania and Bulgaria seek stronger defences
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the alliance had “already strengthened our posture along the eastern flank” as Russian attacks approached its borders.
Bulgaria, which has relatively good relations with Moscow, has been reluctant to blame Russia, but it and Romania have begun taking steps to strengthen their defences. Bulgarian Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov said his country had asked NATO to deploy combat aircraft and anti-drone systems. He also expects Bulgaria to join a NATO anti-drone initiative.
Romania has begun sending F-16 patrols along its coast. One of the jets shot down two of the latest-generation Russian drones over Romanian territorial waters in late October. Romania has also said it will speed up the development of surveillance capabilities and equipment to counter mines and drones in the Black Sea.
The measures have not reassured shipping companies. Traffic to Ukrainian ports has fallen sharply, while insurance rates have risen. Last month, the Joint War Committee, which assesses risk for the London insurance market, expanded the areas it classifies as high-risk to include the entire Black Sea region, excluding the territorial waters of Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria and Georgia.
Shipping risks threaten food exports
Higher insurance premiums threaten Ukraine’s agricultural exports, 90% of which pass through the Black Sea. Ukraine supplies about 15% of global maize exports and 10% of wheat exports, and is the world’s largest exporter of sunflower oil.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has called the Black Sea vital to global food security. Russia “has put freedom of navigation in the Black Sea, and with it a lifeline for so many people, in its crosshairs,” he said last month.
The Trump administration has blamed both sides for attacks on shipping. “We have American companies calling us and saying, ‘Hey, that was our oil on that ship that was hit by Ukraine,’” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last month. “Now, I don’t believe Ukraine intentionally targeted them, but those ships got hit,” he added.
Dimitar Bechev, director of the Dahrendorf Programme at St Antony’s College, Oxford, said NATO and Black Sea states must develop anti-drone defences, and the alliance should increase its presence in Romanian and Bulgarian airspace and on land. “At sea, Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria could do more to enforce freedom of navigation,” he told CNN.
David Axe, author of the Trench Art blog on the conflict in Ukraine, said Ukraine and Russia were punishing each other without securing a lasting advantage. That has left much of the Black Sea perilous for commercial vessels.
CNN’s Kosta Gak contributed reporting to the story.
