Ship Khoryv Sinks Off Romania, Likely Hit by Drone; 1 Dead

A commercial vessel that appears to have been struck by a drone sank in the Black Sea off the coast of Romania on the morning of Friday, October 23, Romanian media reported.

Around 10:00 local time, the coordination centre of the Romanian Naval Authority received a distress report from the ship Khoryv, which was outside Romania's territorial waters, 13 nautical miles (about 24 kilometres) from Constanta. "There were 13 crew members on board: 10 Ukrainian citizens and three citizens of Azerbaijan," the authority said.

After the alarm was raised, vessels of the Romanian Agency for the Rescue of Human Life at Sea (ARSVOM) and of the Interior Ministry went to help. "Because of bad weather and low visibility, it is impossible to use a helicopter in the rescue operation. At this point the rescue vessels have pulled nine living people and one body from the water," the authority said.

Rescuers are continuing the search for the three other crew members. The ship is preliminarily believed to have gone down after a drone attack. According to the information available so far, it was a commercial vessel flying the flag of the Comoros.

Growing concern over Black Sea shipping

The incident comes as the European Parliament calls on the EU to consider a naval operation in the Black Sea over Russian attacks on civilian merchant ships. NATO has said the Alliance will step up surveillance in the Black Sea after the recent attacks on vessels. Romania, meanwhile, proposes that NATO's Black Sea states create a joint military command run on a rotating basis.

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