Black Sea attacks hit 7 ships as Khoriv sinks off Romania
Key Facts
The cargo ship Khoriv sank after an attack off Romania on October 23, adding one fatality and three missing to the toll from attacks on commercial vessels in the Black Sea during the month. The Associated Press said at least seven other cargo ships had been attacked off the coasts of Romania and Bulgaria, with those attacks having killed two people and left 25 missing as of its report. The sequence places the sinking within a broader wave of attacks on commercial shipping in the region. The agency reported that the ship sank about 13 nautical miles east of the port of Constanța. Ten Ukrainians and three Azerbaijanis were on board, while nine crew members were rescued.
The October 23 tally indicates that casualty figures vary according to the timing of incidents and reports: the two dead and 25 missing were linked to earlier attacks, while one person was killed and three went missing in the sinking of the Khoriv. The Associated Press said the earlier incidents involved ships off Romania and Bulgaria, both NATO member states. In a separate incident on October 24, Romanian pilots shot down two drones in territorial waters over the Black Sea during an air policing mission. This came one day after the ship sank, adding an aerial interception to the sequence of maritime incidents. The reports did not provide a unified toll covering all incidents after the Khoriv sank.
The tensions are also affecting Ukrainian grain export routes, which rely on alternatives after repeated shelling of Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea and Danube River. The Associated Press said Kyiv had become increasingly reliant on these routes to deliver grain to markets in Africa and the Middle East. The Sulina Channel is particularly important in this context: it links the Danube to the Black Sea, and Reuters said it had become Ukraine’s main export route. The danger to ships makes this corridor relevant to the flow of food exports to importing markets. Bulgaria’s prime minister pledged to begin talks with Romania and Turkey on joint proposals to ensure safe navigation in the Black Sea, according to the Associated Press.
Grain consultant Cesar Gheorghe told the Associated Press that drone incidents had not negatively affected trade through the port of Constanța. But he said the main concern was rising insurance costs across the wider Black Sea, saying, "The main concern is the increase in insurance costs across the wider Black Sea." That puts continued trade through Constanța alongside concerns over a broader rise in shipping risk costs in the region. The statement did not specify the size of the increase in insurance premiums. Reuters reported on October 15 that NATO would continue working with its Black Sea allies and adjust its deterrence and defense posture as needed.
Response plans are focused on strengthening surveillance and countering drones. Bulgaria’s defense minister said the country planned to join NATO’s Drone Edge project by the end of October, while the agency reported that Romania had already joined the initiative. The project aims to invest more than $40 billion in counter-drone capabilities over the following five years, according to the Associated Press. In a parallel move, Romania’s Supreme Council of National Defense decided to accelerate the development of maritime surveillance capabilities and mine- and drone-countermeasure equipment, and to strengthen cooperation with Bulgaria and Turkey, according to Reuters. The alliance also announced it would send more maritime patrol aircraft, radar systems and drones to the Black Sea, without specifying which capabilities would be deployed.
Convoy escorts remain a proposal under consideration in the available statements. A source in Romania’s defense sector told the Associated Press that Turkey wanted to invite Black Sea littoral states to plan a mission to escort convoys through a secure, military-style corridor. The report did not say that the countries had approved the mission or begun carrying it out. In Bulgaria, the Dignity sank on October 13 after being hit in a military strike off the coast; five sailors were rescued while the search continued for 11 crew members, according to the agency. Talks on safe navigation, counter-drone plans and any arrangements to escort ships remain the main expected steps following the series of incidents.