The Romanian Naval Authority said on Friday (October 23) it was conducting a search and rescue mission to save the crew of a cargo ship on the Black Sea, close to its territorial waters.

It said the Comoros-flagged Khoryv, carrying a crew of 13 Ukrainian and Azeri sailors, had sent a distress signal 13 nautical miles off Romania's port of Constanta, just beyond Romanian territorial waters.

Nine sailors were rescued from the water, one dead body was recovered and three remained missing, the authority said.

Video released by the Romanian Interior Ministry showed only a small part of the hull of the capsized tanker still visible above the waves as it sank.

Emergency vessels were searching the surrounding waters for survivors in choppy seas and high wind.

It was not immediately clear what had caused the incident, which occurred at a time when Black Sea shipping has been hit by air strikes linked to an escalation in Russia's war in Ukraine.

The past two weeks have seen a sudden surge in deadly attacks on commercial ships off the coasts of NATO members Romania and Bulgaria, with at least seven cargo ships hit and some 30 sailors reported dead or missing.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

VIDEO SHOWS: CAPSIZED COMOROS-FLAGGED OIL CARGO CARRIER KHORYV ON THE BLACK SEA / ROMANIAN RESCUE SHIPS

SHOWS: AT SEA (OCTOBER 23, 2026) (ROMANIAN INTERIOR MINISTRY - Access all)

1. CAPSIZED COMOROS-FLAGGED OIL CARGO CARRIER KHORYV ON THE BLACK SEA / ROMANIAN RESCUE SHIPS / CAPSIZED BOAT

2. ROMANIAN RESCUE SHIPS