What happened

Romanian authorities said the general cargo vessel ROYAD MAMMADOV caught fire and later sank about 30 nautical miles south of Sfantu Gheorghe in Romania's exclusive economic zone. Eleven crew members were rescued and two people died; injured crew were airlifted for emergency treatment. Romania's Naval Authority identified the vessel, while maritime tracking described it as St Kitts and Nevis-flagged, departing Izmail for Italy. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said two Russian drones struck the Turkish-owned civilian vessel in neutral waters and that it was carrying corn. Romanian authorities confirmed the fire, sinking and casualties but did not independently state the fire's cause in their initial account, and Russia had not commented when the cited report was published. The precise cargo quantity, damage sequence and pollution impact were not published. This appears distinct from Russia's earlier claim that it struck an unidentified cargo vessel carrying military supplies south of Odesa overnight on 4–5 October: the reported time, Romanian-EEZ position and stated cargo differ, although the incomplete Russian account prevents an absolute exclusion of overlap. The marker is calculated from Romania's approximate distance and direction, not a published impact coordinate.

When cited sources give different casualty, damage or spill figures for this event, they’re reported side by side above rather than merged into one number. See how confidence levels work.