Russian Drone Strikes on Black Sea Shipping Kill or Leave Missing at Least 30 Mariners
BLACK SEA — Russian drones have struck at least a dozen merchant ships in the Black Sea in recent weeks, killing or leaving missing at least 30 mariners, CNN reported on November 3. Some attacks have occurred close to or inside the territorial waters of Romania and Bulgaria, both NATO members, turning the Black Sea into the world's deadliest waterway.
In the most recent strike, three drones hit the container ship Contship Jet last week as it approached a Romanian port. A French surveillance plane filmed a surface drone zeroing in on the vessel, and later video showed the ship listing heavily before sinking; when hit, the vessel was just 25 kilometers (15 miles) from the Bulgarian coast.
The surge in attacks began in early October, when the Turkish-owned Alfa Watan, heading from Egypt to the Romanian port of Sulina, was struck by air and naval drones. Nine Syrian crew members and one Egyptian died, and the ship sank. Six days later, 11 of the crew on the HS Dignity — most of them Syrian — died when the ship was struck off the Bulgarian coast at night. On October 15, four more merchant ships were targeted, including in Romanian territorial waters and its exclusive economic zone, and eight lives were lost, according to Romanian Foreign Minister Oana-Silvia Toiu. Two chemical tankers — Wine Trader and Yara J — caught fire after being hit close to the Sulina Canal that leads from the Black Sea into the Danube; six Beninese and one Russian national on the Wine Trader, which was hit by three drones according to its operator, were killed.
Shipping and security sources cited by CNN said Russia had used sea and air drones together, and had begun using recently developed jet-powered drones, which are faster and more difficult to intercept, as well as drones capable of hitting moving targets. Russia's goal is to throttle trade through Ukrainian ports, which export almost all the country's grain. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the alliance has "already strengthened our posture along the eastern flank." Bulgaria has asked NATO to deploy fighter aircraft and counter-drone systems, and Romania has begun coastal patrols by F-16 fighter jets; CNN reported that one shot down two Russian next-generation drones over Romanian territorial waters in late October.
Source: CNN
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：罗马尼亚康斯坦察港。Wikimedia Commons，公共领域。 / Photo: The Port of Constanta, Romania. Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
