Armed Conflict — 2026-11-15

Three Commercial Ships Struck by Drones Near Romania's Black Sea Coast

BLUFRepeated drone strikes on commercial vessels near Sulina likely will hit at least one more ship off Romania's Black Sea coast by November 30, forcing Bucharest toward escort or routing decisions that reshape Ukraine's Danube supply corridor.

Romanian authorities confirmed that drones struck three commercial vessels off the Black Sea coast on November 13 and 14, with no casualties reported, according to the Kyiv Independent 1. The Palau-flagged Larissa 1, reportedly bound for Ukraine via Sulina, lost a cargo crane about 12 kilometers off Sfântu Gheorghe on November 13, per Digi24 1. On November 14, Romania's Defense Ministry said the Greek-flagged tanker Evia Petrol V was hit at about 9:10 p.m. local time, followed by the bulk carrier Marsol roughly 35 minutes later; crews extinguished fires on both, per News.ro and Anadolu 12. Radar also detected an aerial target east of Snake Island, and two F-16s were deployed 12. The drones' origin has not been established 1.

Analysis
Confidence is low because both outlets trace to the same Romanian reporting and no one has attributed the drones' origin. Three hits in two days near Sulina and the Danube approaches show the campaign now reaches Romanian waters feeding Ukraine's river route, shifting north from the Constanța area and Bulgarian waters seen since October 21. The F-16 scramble against an aerial target east of Snake Island suggests air defense is reacting rather than preventing strikes. The strikes may instead be spillover from Russian attacks on Ukrainian Danube ports, hitting ships by accident. Romanian authorities will likely report at least one more commercial vessel struck by a drone off the Black Sea coast between November 16 and November 30. If that happens, Bucharest and NATO planners must weigh escorts or traffic limits at Sulina, and insurers will raise war-risk costs on Danube routes.
2 sources
  1. Three commercial ships struck by drones near Romania's Black Sea coast over two days - Kyiv Independent
  2. Drones strike two vessels near Romania's Danube Delta - UA.NEWS (citing Anadolu Agency and News.ro)

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