NATO sends aircraft, drones to Black Sea after ship attacks

NATO said Oct. 20 it will send more maritime patrol aircraft, radar systems and drones to the Black Sea after a string of drone attacks on commercial ships off Romania and Bulgaria.

At least five cargo vessels have been hit near the two NATO members in the past 10 days, with at least 23 sailors reported missing or dead, Reuters reported.

The decision followed a meeting of the North Atlantic Council, the alliance’s main decision-making body, at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Oct. 20, the Kyiv Independent reported. U.S. Army Col. Martin O’Donnell, a NATO military spokesperson, said allies “have or will send additional maritime patrol aircraft, radar systems” to the region. He said members have also sent or will send intelligence personnel and teams to carry out forensic analysis of explosives, according to Reuters.

NATO has not said how many aircraft or drones will be deployed, the defence outlet Defence Matters reported. Allison Hart, NATO’s principal spokesperson, said: “NATO has already strengthened our posture along the eastern flank, including with counter-drone capabilities.”

The attacks began in earnest on Oct. 13, the Kyiv Independent reported. Drones struck two commercial vessels off Bulgaria’s coast that day. The Maltese-flagged Chelsea 3, which is Ukrainian-owned, was hit by three drones near Byala. The Guinea-Bissau-flagged HS Dignity sank near Krapets with 11 crew missing. Our earlier report on the sinking off Bulgaria has the first details.

Two days later, seven sailors were reported missing after the San Marino-flagged chemical tanker Wine Trader caught fire near the Romanian port of Sulina, as we reported in two tankers burn off Romania. Romania has accused Moscow of hitting four merchant ships in 24 hours on Oct. 15, killing eight people, the Kyiv Independent reported.

On Oct. 17, Romanian F-16 fighter jets shot down two drones over the country’s territorial waters, the Romanian Defence Ministry said. Defence Minister Radu Miruta said the drones were believed to be Russian-made Geran-4 models.

NATO has not named who is responsible. Analysts quoted by Reuters said Russia almost certainly carried out the attacks. Moscow has not acknowledged responsibility.

The shipping risk is also a financial one for Ukraine. Its government said Oct. 19 it will compensate owners, operators and charterers of Ukrainian- and foreign-flagged vessels for up to 80 per cent of assessed damage if insurers do not cover the risks. Ukraine’s Agriculture Ministry has said about 32 million metric tonnes of farm products worth about US$10 billion are at risk, the Kyiv Independent reported. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Bloomberg on Oct. 19 that Moscow had declined to guarantee safe passage for food shipments that Turkey, India and Egypt offered to carry.

Turkey controls access to the Black Sea under the Montreux Convention, Defence Matters noted.

For Canada, a NATO member, the deployment adds to pressure on the alliance’s eastern flank at a time when Russian drones are also turning up over allied territory. We reported earlier this week on a suspected drone that exploded in Lithuania near the Latvian border, and on the Kremlin’s statement that it is ready for Ukraine talks near Nov. 10. Neither the Black Sea attacks nor the talks have been linked by officials.

Via Reuters, the Kyiv Independent and Defence Matters. NATO has not published the size of the deployment.

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