12 crew members were rescued near the port of Sulina, in Romania (Picture: Twitter)
A cargo ship hit a ‘sea mine’ on the Nato side of the Danube River, triggering an explosion.
Footage shared on Twitter shows the ongoing evacuation of the 12 crew members on board at the time of the incident in Romania the early hours of this morning.
The vessel, sailing under the fag of Togo, sent a Mayday emergency call, moments after the blast.
Coast guards were deployed to help the crew at the Sulina canal, the easternmost point of Romania.
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Local media reported the explosion happened in the engine room after the vessel allegedly hit a sea mine.
Romanian defence analyst Radu Tudor shared footage from the scene and added: ‘An explosion took place this morning on board a Togo-flagged ship, in the Sulina area of the Danube Delta.
‘The ship was damaged, Romanian rescuers took over 12 crew members. It seems that the ship hit a sea mine.’
But a Romanian Naval Authority official said there is ‘no indication’ the explosion was caused by a sea mine.
No physical injuries have been reported amongst the crew
They were evacuated to the nearby port of Sulina
They added that the ship is ‘relatively stable’ and it does not seem to be sinking.
The vessel had arrived in the port of Sulina on September 12 and was waiting to enter the Bîstroe channel.
Tensions on the Romanian border of the river have been running high for weeks after several discovery of drone fragments a few miles from populated villages.
Ukraine is one of the world’s top grain exporters and Russia has been attacking its agricultural and port infrastructure after refusing to extend the safe passage grain corridor brokered by the United Nations and Turkey.
Drones have been striking the inland Danube ports of Reni and Izmail, just a few hundred meters from Nato territory.
Before Russia pulled out of the deal, the Danube ports accounted for around a quarter of Ukraine’s grain exports.
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