Second Black Sea shipping incident in days as cargo vessel damaged near Romania's coast

24 July 2026 A Liberia-flagged cargo ship carrying coal to Ukraine was damaged in Romania's Exclusive Economic Zone in the Black Sea on the night of July 23 to 24, with preliminary assessments indicating the incident may have been caused by a maritime drone or a sea mine explosion. The incident comes just days after an LPG tanker caught fire following an explosion close to Romania’s territorial waters. According to Romania's Department for Emergency Situations (DSU), the commercial vessel Christiana B was sailing from Norfolk, United States, to Ukraine when it reported damage while located about 22 nautical miles southeast of Sfântu Gheorghe, in Romania's Exclusive Economic Zone. The distress call was received overnight by the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) within the Romanian