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The Turkish-owned general cargo vessel Royad Mammadov was allegedly attacked by two drones on 5 October. Romanian authorities have reported that two seafarers perished in the incident and 11 were rescued. The vessel itself sank after taking on water due to the damage.
Vessel ROYAL MAMMADOV, image credit: GIBFRAN46
The incident occurred when the vessel was in the Romanian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), around 20 miles off the Romanian coast. The vessel had loaded corn from the Ukrainian port of Izmail and was reportedly bound for Italy.
The Romanian agency responsible for maritime search and rescue, ARSVOM, received a report of the distressed vessel at 10:37 a.m. Romanian rescue vessels, along with coast guard units and helicopters, were deployed.
The vessel had developed a list and had scorch marks on the deckhouse. Eleven seafarers were rescued, including three injured who were winched to the helicopter. While initial reports by Romanian authorities stated that the captain had died and one crew member was missing, the reports were later revised to reflect that the bodies of two crew members had been recovered.
The vessel later sank around 20–30 nautical miles offshore, near offshore oil rigs. While Romanian authorities have described the incident and the rescue as a fire and rescue operation, Ukrainian authorities have alleged that the vessel was attacked by Russian drones. Russia has not claimed responsibility for the incident.
