At least two people were killed after two Russian drones on Monday attacked and sank the Turkish cargo ship Royad Mammadov (IMO: 9356969), which had been carrying Indians and Azerbaijanis onboard.
The Saint Kitts and Nevis-flagged ship had been carrying corn from Ukraine's Port of Izmail to the Port of Ravenna in Italy, when it was attacked 30 nautical miles off the coast of Romania in the Black Sea, which sparked a fire onboard. It reportedly sank later.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the attack, claiming that the ship's captain had been killed, though incident reports from vesseltracker pointed out that the captain was not among the two casualties, and was injured.
Though Romania's Interior Ministry confirmed that at least two people had died after the drone strikes, THE WEEK could not independently verify whether the captain was among them. The identities of those killed are also currently unknown.
"Russia consistently chooses terror and sinking civilian vessels instead of normal maritime navigation. Pressure is needed to restore global food security," wrote the Ukrainian President in an X post, calling the strike "horrific".
11 people were been rescued after the Constanța Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) was alerted, which had requested the deployment of the Romanian Maritime Rescue Agency and the mobilisation of several rescue vessels.
The SAR Apollo departed from Sulina, while the SAR Artemis was "mobilised from berth 72", the incident reports say. The MRCC had also urged that the SAR Ares be dispatched.
Amid these efforts, a Coast Guard ship was also designated as the On-Scene Coordinator (OSC), working closely with border police and a General Aviation Inspectorate helicopter to ensure that no one was left behind.
