Overview
- The 140‑metre freighter Royad Mammadov caught fire and sank after an incident at sea on Monday, leaving two crew dead and eleven rescued in a Romanian search‑and‑rescue operation.
- Romanian authorities say the ship went down about 30 nautical miles south of Sfântu Gheorghe inside Romania’s exclusive economic zone and emergency vessels and a helicopter carried out the rescue.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy publicly blamed Russian drones for the attack while Moscow confirmed strikes on merchant vessels that day but did not specifically acknowledge this ship.
- The case raises legal and security questions because it occurred in a NATO member’s economic zone, prompting calls from regional states for measures to protect civilian shipping.
- The sinking is the latest in a months‑long series of Black Sea attacks on merchant vessels that has disrupted grain exports, increased danger for crews, and risks further escalation.