Romania is investigating an explosion that rocked a Ukraine-bound cargo ship on Wednesday while it was approaching the Danube river near Romania’s coast.
All 12 crew members of the Seama ship sailing under the flag of Togo were safely evacuated, authorities said.
Bucharest sent a minesweeper boat, divers and prepared a helicopter, fearing that the blast might have been caused by a sea mine drifting from Russia’s war against neighboring Ukraine.
Romanian Premier Marcel Ciolacu said that the sea mine “hypothesis” was “closer to the truth” than other scenarios, such as a technical malfunction.
“Let’s wait for what the ministry of defense tells us exactly,” he said. Romania’s government was criticized this month after initially dismissing and later confirming Ukrainian reports of Russian drone debris falling on Romanian territory in eastern Romania near the Ukrainian border.
Bucharest has since confirmed multiple drone crashes as Russia has stepped up its attacks on Ukraine’s Danube ports of Izmail and Reni. The Romanian foreign minister has summoned the Russian ambassador in response to the incidents.
The attacks come as Moscow has tried to prevent Ukraine export more grain via the Danube and into Romania’s territorial waters.
NATO members Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey along with shipping companies have recently started testing out a safe route along their Black Sea coasts after Russia in July pulled out of a deal safeguarding grain exports to reach international markets.
The Romanian defense ministry said on Wednesday that its naval forces responded quickly in dispatching the ship and a team of divers. Ciolacu said navigation on the Danube had not been disrupted and the ship was in deep water several miles off the coast at the time of the blast.
