EditAnkara summons Kyiv’s ambassador over sank ship as Bucharest refuses to name a culprit
PROGRESS IV sinks in Romania’s EEZ but President Nicușor Dan said that it was not known what struck it or who was responsible
Turkey summoned Ukraine’s ambassador in Ankara on Saturday after two Turkish-operated vessels were targeted in the Black Sea near Russia’s Tuapse port. Foreign Ministry sources said the Cameroon-flagged, Turkish-operated Lider Bordo Mavi was struck on 26 August while carrying fresh produce from Samsun toward Tuapse; it caught fire after being hit by multiple drones and five crew members were injured. The following day the Lider Kocatepe was dispatched to tow the damaged ship and was itself targeted as it approached the area, sustaining damage before returning to Samsun.
Ankara conveyed its reaction to Ambassador Nariman Dzhelialov and warned that the safety of lives, property, navigation and the marine environment in the Black Sea had to be protected. The account released through ministry sources did not publish technical evidence identifying responsibility for either strike or specify the weapons used. The summons itself placed the incidents directly into Turkey’s diplomatic relationship with Kyiv.
Those events followed weeks of rising risk around Russian and Ukrainian ports and came immediately before another Turkey-linked loss farther west.
PROGRESS IV sinks in Romania’s EEZ
The Dominica-flagged general cargo ship PROGRESS IV (IMO 8358130), a 7,298-dwt vessel built in 2005–2006 and measuring about 113–122 metres, was lost in Romania’s exclusive economic zone on the evening of August 27. Managed from the UAE and listed with an Istanbul-linked operator, it was carrying sugar and peas in 199 containers from the Ukrainian Danube port of Reni toward Tekirdağ, Turkey. Ships on this route commonly report Sulina as a waypoint when loading at Ukrainian river ports.
A COSPAS-SARSAT distress alert reached Romania’s Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre at about 17:55 local time when the ship was approximately 15 nautical miles off Sfântu Gheorghe, outside territorial waters but inside the EEZ. Fire broke out; the vessel then sank rapidly, with later accounts describing possible breaches below the waterline. Acting Defence Minister Radu Miruță said the ship reported via its alert system that it had been hit by a drone. Romanian radar had earlier detected an aerial object 33 km north of Snake Island, prompting F-18 fighters to scramble.
Rescue vessels SAR Ares and SAR Artemis, Border Police ship MAI 0201 and the nearby merchant vessel Mohamad B responded in 2.5-metre waves. All 12 crew members – eight Ukrainians and four Azerbaijanis – were recovered alive by 20:47. Ten were taken aboard the Border Police vessel; two were picked up by Mohamad B. One sailor suffered a fractured arm. The ship had already sunk by the time some rescuers reached the scene.
⚡️Off the coast of Romania, after being hit, the cargo ship PROGRESS IV caught fire and sank.
The incident occurred in the Black Sea approximately 20 nautical miles from Saint George. There were 12 crew members on board — all were rescued, one sailor was injured.
The President of… pic.twitter.com/DoRkVfwqiw— BLYSKAVKA (@blyskavka_ua) August 28, 2026
Romanian official response
President Nicușor Dan, speaking from Chișinău, said authorities had information that the vessel “had been hit” and appeared to have sunk, but that it was not known what struck it or who was responsible. “There will be an investigation and everything will be established, but we should not speculate,” he told reporters, adding that the incident occurred at the limit but outside territorial waters and congratulating the Coast Guard for acting promptly in poor weather.
Dan also revealed that Romania had contacted Ukraine to request that it refrain from attacking tankers carrying energy products from Novorossiysk to Romanian facilities. Constanța prosecutors opened a criminal investigation in rem. Romanian media reported investigators considering scenarios that included an aerial drone striking the superstructure, a maritime drone, or an incendiary-type drone, none of which had been officially confirmed. A similar incident involving the LPG tanker Gas Lisbon had occurred in the same EEZ in July.
The investigation remains open. No public attribution of responsibility has been issued by Bucharest.
Erdoğan and Putin are due to meet in Bishkek on 1 September on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, with Ukraine and the Black Sea explicitly included on their agenda. Kremlin foreign-policy adviser Yury Ushakov said the presidents would discuss the situation in the Black Sea basin alongside the war and bilateral economic relations.
The sequence is now difficult to separate: Lider Bordo Mavi was hit, the ship sent to recover it was targeted, Ankara summoned the Ukrainian ambassador, PROGRESS IV went down in Romanian waters without a publicly established cause, and Erdoğan will discuss the same sea with Putin within two days.
Turkey has announced no new maritime ceasefire proposal or navigation mechanism. Commercial shipping security has nonetheless moved out of industry warnings and casualty reports and into direct diplomacy with Kyiv and Moscow.
This article draws on coverage by EUalive’s partner Bosphorus News.
Caption: Undated archive photo of the general cargo ship PROGRESS IV [Photo credit: Arjun, Marinetraffic]
Updated: August 29, 2026 - 17:11
