Unidentified Drone Strikes YARA J Tanker in Romanian Waters

An unidentified drone struck the YARA J chemical and oil products tanker, which was sailing under the flag of the ComorosIslands, in Romanian territorial waters.

Cedar News and Bulgarian maritime news outlet Maritime.bg reported the incident, citing a statement by Adrian Mihalcioiu, a representative of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) in Romania.

The incident occurred on the evening of October 14 in the Black Sea, approximately 10 nautical miles from the Romanian city of Sulina.

The tanker issued a distress signal at around 8:00 p.m. local time. The drone strike sparked a fire aboard the civilian vessel.

The crew managed to extinguish the fire using the equipment on board. The tanker’s engines remained operational,allowing the vessel to continue sailing.

There were 17 crew members on board, including citizens of Syria, India, and Iran. No injuries were reported, and all crew members remained on the vessel.

The YARA J is currently sailing under its own power toward the Romanian port of Constanța.