Two civilian ships were hit by drones on Saturday evening near the mouths of the Danube, 4 and 5 nautical miles from Sulina, the Ministry of National Defence announced, G4Media reports. They are a Greek-flagged tanker and a bulk carrier.

The communique quoted by G4Media says the civil maritime authorities reported the two strikes. The tanker EVIA PETROL V, under the Greek flag, was hit at about 21:10, roughly 4 nautical miles east-southeast of Sulina, and a fire broke out on board. At about 21:45 the bulk carrier MARSOL, about 5 nautical miles southeast of the Sulina Canal, was also hit by a drone, again with a fire on board. In both cases the crews put the fires out. There were no casualties.

Before those announcements, the ministry said its radar had detected an aerial target east of Snake Island. Two Romanian Air Force F-16s on air-policing duty took off from the 86th Air Base at Fetești. The National Military Command Centre notified the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations so people in the east of Tulcea county could be alerted. An RO-Alert message went out at 20:51. The air alert ended at 21:37.

A new radar contact was later detected southeast of the town of Sulina, and a second RO-Alert message was sent at 23:19. The air alert ended at 00:27, the authorities also said, according to G4Media.

Libertatea carries the same defence-ministry communique: the tanker Evia Petrol V hit at about 21:10, some four nautical miles east-southeast of Sulina, and the bulk carrier Marsol hit at about 21:45, some five nautical miles southeast of the Sulina Canal. There too the fires were put out by the crews, with no casualties, a second RO-Alert at 23:19, and the air alert lifted on Sunday, 15 November, at 00:27.

G4Media keeps the two sets of facts apart: the report of the strikes on the ships, which came from the civil maritime authorities, and the radar contacts announced by the ministry. The article does not say the targets seen on radar were the drones that hit the ships.

Image: Wikimedia Commons — the old lighthouse at Sulina, on the left bank of the Danube, 21 July 2012 (Nenea hartia, CC BY-SA 4.0). The photo is not from Saturday evening and does not show the ships that were hit.

Sources consulted: Two civilian ships hit by drones near Sulina — G4Media; Ships hit by drones near Sulina, fires and RO-Alert — Libertatea.