Gas Lisbon, a Liberia-flagged tanker carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) en route to Ukraine, was struck off Romania’s Black Sea coast on Monday evening.
Romanian President Nicusor Dan said it happened in Romanian waters, about 20 nautical miles (37 kilometers) off the country’s coast, as the Gas Lisbon sailed from Egypt’s Alexandria to the port of Reni in southern Ukraine.
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“Last night, the LPG Gas Lisbon, a Liberian-flagged vessel, was struck outside Romania’s territorial waters, approximately 20 nautical miles off the Romanian coast,” Dan wrote in his X update.
He said three crew members of unspecified nationalities were injured aboard the vessel, with Romanian authorities sending two vessels to their rescue.
“Additionally, a tug dispatched to the area is ensuring that the vessel does not drift and does not pose any additional risk to navigational safety,” he added.
While Dan said the incident remains under investigation, he added that it is “likely part of the Russian Federation’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine.”
Acting Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha thanked Bucharest for its assistance and blamed Moscow for the attack.
“The deliberate attack on the LPG tanker Gas Lisbon, which was en route to Ukraine and struck near Romania’s coast, is yet another example of Russia’s terror,” Sybiha wrote on X.
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Tit-for-tat strikes?
The Gas Lisbon is the latest casualty in Russia’s war against Ukraine, as both Kyiv and Moscow step up attacks on naval vessels in recent months.
On Sunday, a Russian missile strike on a Turkish-owned cargo ship departing southern Ukraine’s Odesa killed 10 people, including foreign crew members and a Ukrainian port pilot. On July 14, a Russian strike on two merchant ships in the Black Sea killed the captain of a Tanzania-flagged vessel and injured three crew members.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has been targeting sanctioned vessels ferrying Russian oil known as the “shadow fleet,” with the operation beginning in earnest around three weeks ago.
Also on July 14, Ukraine said it struck 116 shadow fleet tankers within 9 days. Kyiv defended its attacks on Russia’s shadow fleet, saying the oil tankers bankroll the Kremlin’s war machine and therefore constitute lawful military targets.
Russia’s foreign minister has likened the attacks to piracy, a claim rebuffed by the commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces (USF).
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