J004-MAR NEGRO BUQUES ATACADOS CON DRONES

Rescuers were searching for seven missing crew members on Thursday (October 15) from one of two chemical tankers that caught fire overnight inside Romanian territorial waters in the Black Sea after Russian drones strayed into Romanian airspace.

Romanian officials stopped short of explicitly linking the fires onboard the ships to the Russian drones.

But the incidents follow drone strikes on at least five other cargo ships near the coasts of Romania and neighbouring fellow NATO member Bulgaria over the past 10 days.

At least 23 sailors were lost from those strikes, which unlike the latest incidents, took place just outside NATO's territorial waters.

The two ships hit overnight were both anchored in the Black Sea near the mouth of the canal leading out of the Danube River, a major shipping route used by Ukraine as Russia has attacked Ukraine's own Black Sea ports.

Romania's naval authority said it received an emergency alert from the San Marino-flagged tanker Wine Trader.

It originally reported eight of the 12-member crew were missing before revising the figure to seven.

Earlier, the Comoros-flagged chemical and oil tanker Yara J also caught fire.

Romanian authorities initially said it was not clear whether it had been attacked.

All its crew were safe.