MAI sends Black Hawk helicopters to rescue the crew of the commercial vessel Wine Trader, which caught fire near Sulina

The Ministry of Internal Affairs mobilized two Black Hawk helicopters on Thursday to rescue the crew of the commercial vessel Wine Trader, which caught fire in the Black Sea, near Sulina. The operation is hampered by the very high waves, and the recovery of the people on board cannot currently be carried out safely.

One of the helicopters, equipped with a medical team, took off toward the incident area, while the second was dispatched from Bucharest to reinforce the response. Both aircraft are equipped with winching systems. Two vessels of the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations, as well as a Border Police vessel, were also mobilized in support.

The fire was reported at around 07:00, when the San Marino-flagged vessel was approximately 13 nautical miles southeast of Sulina. There were 12 people on board: four were found safe, while eight are missing. The vessel requested assistance from the Romanian authorities, and the Maritime Coordination Centre launched the search and rescue operation.

The intervention comes after another vessel, Yara J, was hit by a drone in the same area on Wednesday. On Thursday, a drone was detected near Sulina and disappeared from radar after approximately one minute. The authorities issued a RO-Alert message for Tulcea County.