A ship entered the Sulina Canal in the Danube Delta last month on its way to port in Sulina, Romania. Photo credit: Andreea Campeanu for The New York Times
The crew of a cargo ship sailing across the Black Sea were rescued and evacuated to the Romanian port of Sulina, near the border with Ukraine, after the ship was damaged by an explosion, Romanian authorities said on Wednesday.
The cause of the explosion remains unknown. Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu suggested in a news conference that the ship may have been damaged by a mine, but provided no evidence to support this claim. Since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year, both countries have littered the Black Sea with explosive devices.
Romania’s Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Sorin Grindeanu, said at the press conference that there were two hypotheses as to what could have caused the damage: a sea mine or an explosion in the engine room. Mr. Ciolacu said the mine hypothesis was “closer to the truth,” but did not elaborate.
Earlier, Romanian media reported that Cosmin Dumitrache, the head of Romania’s naval authority, said there was “no concrete evidence that a mine could be the cause of the explosion.” The investigation into the cause of the explosion is still ongoing, authorities said.
A day before the explosion, a ship loaded with wheat sailed for the first time on a new Black Sea route created by Ukraine to bypass the blockade. Ukrainian authorities welcomed the news as evidence that ships could safely navigate in and out of Ukrainian waters, but experts warned that risks remained high. The ship damaged on Wednesday was traveling on a different route that bypasses Ukraine’s Black Sea ports and uses the Danube.
Russia and Ukraine have escalated their fight in the Black Sea in recent months, drawing the war closer to Romania, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Russia has targeted Ukrainian ports and grain facilities on the Danube, directly across from Romania, and Ukraine is fighting for control of strategic oil and gas platforms in the northwestern part of the Black Sea, a few dozen miles off the Romanian coast.
The fighting has raised fears that it could draw NATO into a direct military confrontation with Moscow. The Alliance’s commitment to mutual defense considers an attack on one member to be an attack on all. Earlier this month, debris from possibly Russian drones was found in Romanian territory after attacks on nearby Ukrainian ports, Romanian authorities said. But Romania has avoided any suggestion that it might invoke the common defense pact because of the rubble.
Wednesday’s explosion severely damaged the ship and it was in danger of sinking, Romanian officials said. Mr Grindeanu said a tug had been used to bring the ship closer to shore and prevent it from sinking.
Romanian authorities said the crew of the Togo-registered Seama ship reported the explosion around 6:50 a.m. local time and that Romanian sea rescuers picked up the crew members about 30 minutes later. Romanian media reported that a crew member was injured.
Marius Gelu Roibu, the head of Romania’s maritime rescue agency MRCC, said in an interview that 12 crew members had been taken to the port of Sulina for medical treatment.
The website MarineTraffic, which tracks global shipping traffic using satellite data, showed the ship had left the Turkish Black Sea port of Bartin. The Romanian Naval Authority said in a statement that the ship was transporting cement and arrived at the port of Sulina on September 12.
The explosion occurred as the ship was waiting to enter the Bystroe Canal, which connects the Danube Delta with the Black Sea, near the maritime border between Romania and Ukraine, about seven nautical miles east of Sulina. It remains unclear whether the ship was in Ukrainian waters at the time of the explosion.
Due to Russia’s attempted blockade of the sea, Ukraine is increasingly using the Danube as an alternative waterway for international trade.
The Romanian Defense Ministry said in a statement that it had dispatched a minesweeper, a warship designed to remove sea mines, to the area with divers specializing in explosive devices. The Romanian news agency Agerpress reported last month that Romanian naval forces had neutralized five sea mines that had entered Romanian waters since the start of the war.
show more