Drones struck three commercial ships in the Black Sea near Romania’s Sulina canal late on Saturday, Prime Minister Luca Niculescu said on Sunday, in the latest attack on merchant shipping close to NATO territory.
Defence Minister Stefan Radu Oprea said there were no casualties and that the crews had managed to control the fires on board. Romania’s armed forces scrambled fighter jets twice in response.
The three vessels were the Greek-flagged oil and chemical tanker Evia Petrol V, the bulk carrier Marsol and the oil products tanker Ali Najafov, the last two under the flag of Saint Kitts and Nevis. The defence ministry said Evia Petrol V and Marsol were struck four and five nautical miles south-east of the Sulina canal, inside Romanian territorial waters.
A separate general cargo ship was hit by a drone late on Friday, also with no casualties. Private television station Digi24 identified the vessel as the Palau-flagged Larissa 1.
Romanian officials did not identify the origin of the drones, but said the strikes were a direct consequence of Russia’s war in Ukraine. “These incidents are unacceptable and constitute a violation of international law,” Niculescu said. “They reflect the deteriorating security situation caused by Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine.”
Russia has denied targeting Ukraine’s neighbours with drones.
The Sulina canal is a key Romanian shipping lane linking the Danube to the Black Sea and is used by Ukraine for exports. A growing series of strikes on merchant ships near NATO members Romania and Bulgaria in October and November has shown how the escalating maritime war between Russia and Ukraine is spilling into a major challenge for the transatlantic alliance, with many of the vessels hit anchored near or sailing to or from the Sulina canal.
Oprea said he would raise the attacks at a meeting of fellow defence ministers in Brussels on Tuesday and Wednesday. “We need the solidarity of our allies, shown through patrols with surveillance aircraft and through equipment for counter-drone warfare,” he said. France has already temporarily relocated an Atlantique 2 maritime patrol aircraft to Romania after Bucharest asked for reinforcement.
Note on sourcing: this account rests on Reuters’ report of statements by Romanian officials; the origin of the drones has not been independently established.
Sources: Reuters — https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/three-ships-struck-by-drones-black-sea-near-romanian-shipping-canal-pm-says-2026-11-15/
