Eight Missing After Tanker Fire Off Romania

A fire aboard the tanker Wine Trader left eight of its 12 crew members missing and four safe, Romanian naval authorities said Thursday, as rescuers searched in the Black Sea off Romania’s coast. A second tanker, Yara J, also caught fire in Romanian waters, but its crew evacuated safely, authorities said. The cause of either fire has not been established. Romanian officials said an investigation was underway into whether a drone was involved in the Yara J fire. Defence Minister Radu Miruță said no drone had been seen on military radar heading toward that vessel. Officials have not explicitly linked the fires to drone activity. The Romanian Naval Authority said Wine Trader sent an emergency alert. Nearby ships reportedly said the vessel had been hit by two drones, but that account has not been independently established in the supplied reporting. The tanker was reported about 13 nautical miles southeast of Sulina, near the mouth of the Danube. Yara J, a Comoros-flagged chemical and oil tanker, caught fire in Romanian territorial waters on Wednesday evening, according to Romanian authorities. Its crew was safe and evacuated.