Human remains found aboard drone-hit tanker repaired in Varna, Bulgaria

Remains found during repairs in Varna

Human remains were found aboard a commercial ship that had been hit by a drone off Romania, the prosecutor's office in Varna said on Saturday, 7 November. The discovery came during preliminary cleaning operations while the vessel was in a shipyard in Varna for repairs. The prosecutors did not name the ship, but said it sailed under the flag of San Marino, which corresponds to the registration of the Wine Trader, a chemical tanker. Prosecutors have ordered DNA tests to identify the victims. Because the remains are badly degraded, the exact number of dead has not been officially confirmed.

The attack off Sulina

The Wine Trader was hit on 15 October about 24 kilometres southeast of Sulina, near the mouth of the Danube, according to Romanian reports. El Confidencial placed the strike about 14 nautical miles southeast of Sulina and said the ship was travelling from Tunisia to Romania. Reports said the vessel caught fire after the drone hit it. Romanian authorities launched a large rescue with Black Hawk helicopters and boats carrying medical staff, although heavy swell hampered the work. Five of the 12 crew were rescued on the day of the attack, while the other seven were declared missing. The damaged ship was later towed to Bulgaria and reached the shipyard in Varna in early November. A criminal investigation into the circumstances of the attack is under way in Romania.

Crew and casualty count

Of the 12 crew, five were rescued and seven were declared missing. The death toll remains unsettled. A source in Bulgarian law enforcement told AFP that the remains most likely belong to six people. Public radio BNR, which did not detail its sources, reported that the remains of five sailors who had been missing since the attack were found. Prosecutors have not published a figure. The sources do not say whether the remains belong to the seven crew members declared missing.

Rescued on the day of the attack5

Declared missing7

Rescued on the day of the attack

5 people

Declared missing

7 people

Data from the article text

Wider campaign in the Black Sea

Libertatea and Ziare.com report that at least nine commercial ships have been hit by drones off the coasts of Romania and Bulgaria since early October, with 34 people dead or missing in total. Libertatea also reports that shipping companies and international insurers are drastically revising security protocols for routes through the western Black Sea. The Wine Trader strike took place close to the Ukrainian border, according to El Confidencial.

Political reaction and next steps

Romanian President Nicusor Dan attributed the strike to Moscow, which he said intended to destabilise NATO's eastern flank, without specifying whether the Russian army carried out the attack directly. El Confidencial described the drone as presumably Russian. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is due to visit Bucharest on Monday, 9 November, and Varna on Tuesday, 10 November, according to the Commission. In Varna she is set to meet Bulgarian Prime Minister Roumen Radev and visit the Naval Academy. The DNA results will determine how many of the victims are identified.