Romania’s Defense Ministry, cited by News.ro, reported a third ship hit by drones near the Danube Delta overnight; Anadolu had reported two others in the sequence, after October Black Sea attacks sank two vessels.
Anadolu identified two of the vessels as Evia Petrol V, a Greek-flagged oil tanker, and Marsol, a bulk carrier; News.ro, citing Romania’s Defense Ministry, identified the third as Ali Najafov and said it also caught fire. News.ro reported that the ministry said crews extinguished the fires and no casualties were reported.
Evia Petrol V was hit at 2:10 p.m. ET Saturday (9:10 p.m. local time; 1910 GMT), about four nautical miles east-southeast of Sulina. Marsol was struck about 35 minutes later, at 2:45 p.m. ET (9:45 p.m. local time; 1945 GMT), roughly five nautical miles southeast of the Sulina Canal, Anadolu reported.
Anadolu said Romanian radar picked up an aerial target east of Snake Island, after which authorities scrambled two F-16s from Fetesti’s 86th Air Base to monitor the area.
Ambrey Analytics previously reported three merchant vessels struck in the Romanian and Bulgarian exclusive economic zones on Oct. 5-6, with two sinking. The firm assessed Russian forces were highly likely responsible and that the vessels were highly likely targeted because of links to Ukrainian grain exports. That assessment concerned the October attacks; Anadolu’s report did not identify who launched Saturday’s drones.
