Romania probes cause of Black Sea cargo ship sinking

Aug 28 (Reuters) - A ‌merchant ship ​caught ​fire and sank off the coast of Romania in the Black Sea on Thursday ‌evening, likely after being hit, Romanian President Nicusor ⁠Dan and authorities said.

The Romanian Border Police on Friday confirmed ‌the fire on board ‌a commercial ship sailing through Romania's exclusive economic zone, but did not provide a cause.

Black Sea ​shipping and port facilities have been targeted repeatedly since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in ⁠2022, with the pace of attacks escalating in 2026.

"The ship was ​hit... it seems to have sunk," Dan told journalists during a news conference in Chisinau, ​Moldova, on Thursday, adding that ‌at present no information was available as to who might have been involved ⁠in a possible strike.

"There will be an investigation, it will be established, but it is not good for ⁠us to start speculating," the president said. The event had ​taken place outside Romania's territorial waters, he said.

All 12 people on board the merchant ship had been rescued, the Romanian ‌Border Police said in a statement.

"Of these, 10 people were rescued by the ‌border guards, one of them being injured, and two ⁠others were rescued ‌by the crew of ​the merchant ship," they said.

(Reporting by Anna Koper and Pawel Florkiewicz; Editing by Jan ‌Harvey)

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