A maritime drone exploded in the Romanian port of Constanta on Friday after authorities found it that morning in the civilian part of the port, near the headquarters of the Romanian Agency for Saving Human Life at Sea.
The Romanian Defense Ministry, quoted by Agerpres, said the object self-detonated at around 10:30 a.m. local time and caused no casualties. The area had already been secured and isolated by the Romanian Intelligence Service, the coast guard and the armed forces before the explosion. Specialist teams were examining and securing the object at the time.
According to the ministry, the drone was not part of the Romanian army’s equipment and was not connected to recent Romanian military exercises in the Black Sea. Romanian authorities said it was a type of maritime drone used in the war in Ukraine.
The blast was heard in several parts of the city. Fire crews and ambulances were sent to the scene, but initial reports said no one had been injured.
Digi24 television, citing its own sources, first reported that four more drones had been found on the Romanian coast after the explosion in the port of Constanta. However, Adrian Teodor Picoiu, the prefect of Constanta district, later told G4Media that no additional drones had been found.
Two helicopters were searching the port and the Black Sea coast for additional drones, Romanian Deputy Interior Minister Raed Arafat said. “We now know there is the risk of self-detonation, we have ... evacuated in case there are more drones”, Arafat told reporters. “We are not panicking, the measures are purely preventative.”
Reactions From Brussels and Bucharest
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen linked the incident to the wider threat posed by Russia’s war. “One week after a drone crashed into an apartment building in Galati, a maritime drone today reached the port of Constanta. This is a direct consequence of Russia’s war against Ukraine. It is increasingly becoming a direct threat to countries on our Eastern border. Our solidarity with every Member State exposed to these threats is absolute”, she wrote on X.
Romanian President Nicusor Dan wrote on Facebook that he had been informed about the explosion while traveling to the EU-Western Balkans summit in Montenegro. He said authorities were analyzing how the maritime drone had reached the port. In any case, the incident was a “direct consequence of the war of aggression unleashed by Russia against Ukraine”, he added.
Ukraine has informed Romania that the maritime drone that exploded in Constanta was part of a group of five drones, Picoiu told G4Media. One other drone from the group exploded in Ukraine, while searches are continuing for the remaining three, the website reported.
The incident in Constanta occurred a week after a residential building in the Romanian city of Galati, near the border with Ukraine, was hit by a Russian drone. A 14-year-old boy and a 53-year-old woman were injured. In response, Bucharest declared Russia’s consul general in Constanta persona non grata and announced the closure of the consulate.
(max, Reuters, tasr)