The merchant ship "Progress IV", flying the flag of the Dominican Republic, sank in the Black Sea, in Romania's exclusive economic zone, beyond territorial waters, after a fire broke out on board yesterday. All 12 crew members were rescued in a complex operation, Romanian broadcaster HotNews reports. The ship, which sailed from the Romanian port of Sulina, right next to the border with Moldova, on August 21, was headed for the Turkish port of Tekirdag.
The President of Romania, Nicusor Dan, reported that the ship had been attacked, without specifying anything further. "It was hit and appears to have sunk. At the moment we don't know by whom, or why. An investigation will be launched, it is not appropriate to speculate," Dan stated. The rescue operations took place approximately 15-20 nautical miles from the Romanian locality of Sfântu Gheorghe. Yesterday, Dan was in Chisinau, where he met, on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of Moldova's independence, President Maia Sandu and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. In the early hours of yesterday, five Russian drones violated Moldova's airspace.
