Drones struck three commercial ships near the mouth of Romania’s Sulina canal late on Saturday, November 14, two of them inside Romanian territorial waters, Romania’s government said on Sunday. A fourth ship was hit the night before. Nobody was killed, but the strikes extend a six-week run of attacks on merchant shipping off the coasts of two NATO members, Romania and Bulgaria.
Prime Minister Luca Niculescu said Romania’s armed forces scrambled fighter jets twice. “These incidents are unacceptable and constitute a violation of international law,” he said, according to Reuters. “They reflect the deteriorating security situation caused by Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine.”
What Romania has confirmed
Defence Minister Stefan Radu Oprea named the three ships hit on Saturday night: the Greek-flagged oil and chemical tanker Evia Petrol V, the bulk carrier Marsol and the oil products tanker Ali Najafov. The last two fly the flag of Saint Kitts and Nevis. Romania’s defence ministry said the Evia Petrol V and the Marsol were struck 4 and 5 nautical miles southeast of the Sulina canal, inside Romanian territorial waters. Fires broke out on board, and the crews put them out. Oprea said there were no casualties.
The Kyiv Independent, citing Romania’s defence ministry via the news agency News.ro, timed the first strike on the Evia Petrol V at about 9:10 p.m. local time, with the Marsol hit roughly 35 minutes later. The ministry also reported an aerial target east of Snake Island, sent two F-16 fighters, and issued drone alerts to residents of Tulcea County.
The night before, on Friday, November 13, a drone hit the Palau-flagged general cargo ship Larissa 1. Romanian broadcaster Digi24 reported the ship was about 12 kilometers off the coast near Sfantu Gheorghe at about 9:40 p.m., bound for Sulina with Ukraine reportedly its final destination. The outlet HotNews reported the drone damaged a cargo crane and caused no fire or injuries.
One point of confusion: the Kyiv Independent’s headline count of three ships over two days covers the Larissa 1, the Evia Petrol V and the Marsol. Reuters, quoting Oprea, lists three ships on Saturday night alone, including the Ali Najafov, plus the Larissa 1 on Friday. That makes four ships in two nights by the Romanian minister’s account.
Who launched the drones: not established
Romanian officials have not named the source of the weekend’s drones. They called the strikes a direct consequence of Russia’s war on Ukraine. Russia has denied targeting Ukraine’s neighbors with drones.
The earlier record points one way, but it is not proof for this weekend. After a drone sank the Comoros-flagged Khoryv off Constanta on October 23, Romania blamed Russia outright; President Nicusor Dan called it “a new example of the tragic consequences of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine,” Al Jazeera reported. CNN, citing shipping and security sources, reported on November 3 that Russia has been combining sea drones and aerial drones in a campaign to choke off trade through Ukrainian ports, including the Danube route that now runs through Sulina.
There is complicating evidence. CNN noted the Russian campaign followed months of Ukrainian strikes on ships using Russian ports in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. And not every stray drone near Romania has been Russian: on June 5, a maritime drone self-detonated inside Constanta port near an oil terminal, and Ukraine said it was Ukrainian, blaming Russian electronic jamming for the loss of control, according to a Reuters timeline. Unconfirmed: attribution of the November 13 and 14 strikes to Russia is an inference from the pattern and from where the ships were going. Romania has not stated it, and no physical evidence has been made public.
The pattern since October
A Reuters timeline published Sunday lists at least 13 merchant ships struck or sunk near Romania and Bulgaria since October 5. The worst losses came early. The Togo-flagged Alfa Watan sank on October 6 about 70 nautical miles off Bulgaria, with 12 crew listed missing. The HS Dignity sank off the Bulgarian village of Krapets on October 13 with 11 missing. Seven crew were listed missing after the tanker Wine Trader was hit on October 15, one nautical mile outside Romanian waters. The Liberian-flagged container ship Contship Jet sank in Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone on October 28 after three naval drones hit it. CNN reported that at least 30 mariners had been killed or were missing in the surge as of early November.
The sources do not agree on every detail. Reuters’ Sunday timeline says all of the Khoryv’s crew were rescued. Al Jazeera’s October 23 report, drawing on wire services and Romania’s naval authority, said nine sailors were rescued, one body was recovered and three were missing. The Kyiv Independent also reported one dead and three missing. Readers should treat the Khoryv casualty figure as disputed until Romanian authorities publish a final count.
Why Sulina matters
The Sulina canal links the Danube to the Black Sea. With Russian strikes hitting Odesa and Ukraine’s other sea ports, Ukrainian exporters have shifted cargo to Danube river ports that depend on the Romanian channel. CNN cited Ukrainian government figures showing wheat exports of 1.09 million tons in September, about half the 2.05 million tons a year earlier. Several of the ships hit in October and November were anchored near Sulina or sailing to or from it, Reuters reported.
That puts the alliance in an awkward spot. The ships are foreign-flagged and privately owned, but two of Saturday’s strikes landed inside the territorial sea of an alliance member. Oprea said he will be in Brussels on Tuesday and Wednesday to meet his fellow defence ministers. “We need the solidarity of our allies, shown through patrols with surveillance aircraft and through equipment for counter-drone warfare,” he said. France has temporarily moved an Atlantique 2 maritime patrol aircraft to Romania at Bucharest’s request, according to Reuters. Al Jazeera reported in October that NATO had pledged more maritime patrol aircraft, radar systems and drones for the Black Sea.
Sources
- Reuters, “Three ships struck by drones in Black Sea near Romanian shipping canal, PM says” (Nov. 15, 2026), verbatim wire copy read via Internazionale
- Reuters, “Factbox: How NATO states on the Black Sea are being drawn into Ukraine war escalation” (Nov. 15, 2026), via Internazionale
- The Kyiv Independent, “Three commercial ships struck by drones near Romania’s Black Sea coast over two days” (Nov. 15, 2026)
- Al Jazeera, “Romania blames Russia after drone sinks ship in the Black Sea” (Oct. 23, 2026)
- CNN, “Russian drone attacks turn the Black Sea into the world’s deadliest waterway” (Nov. 3, 2026)
Featured image: “Where the Danube Meets the Black Sea,” NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, via Flickr, licensed CC BY 2.0.
How this article was made: Right Side News researched and drafted this article with the help of AI tools. Sources are linked so readers can check them. Spot an error? Tell us in the comments and we will correct it.
