NATO allies are sending more maritime patrol aircraft, radar systems, drones and investigators to the Black Sea after a string of drone attacks on commercial ships near Romania and Bulgaria, the alliance’s military headquarters, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, said Tuesday in a statement from its spokesman.

“Allies have or will send additional maritime patrol aircraft, radar systems, explosive exploitation teams, intelligence personnel, drones, and more to the Black Sea,” U.S. Army Col. Martin O’Donnell, the SHAPE spokesman, said in a statement.

The announcement followed a Tuesday meeting of the North Atlantic Council, NATO’s top decision-making body. Both Romania and Bulgaria had asked the alliance for more help.

The U.S. role in the response

“The most important thing we can do, however, is to increase our situational awareness in the region through increased sensors and data sharing,” O’Donnell said.

Romanian President Nicușor Dan said last week that the United States was among the allies that gave Romania equipment after earlier drone incursions along its Danube border with Ukraine. “And now we are in the same situation, but on the other border, with the Black Sea,” Dan told Politico.

NATO has not announced a mission to escort commercial vessels, Stars and Stripes reported.

What NATO and the two allies said

Speaking in Brussels on Oct. 15, Dan said it was “too early” to say for certain whether Russia was behind the attacks. He said invoking NATO’s collective defense clause, Article 5, was “not now” under discussion. And he said Romania had not asked to trigger Article 4, the clause for emergency consultations.

NATO spokeswoman Allison Hart said Tuesday that the council had met to discuss security in the Black Sea. “NATO has already strengthened our posture along the eastern flank, including with counter-drone capabilities,” she said. “NATO will be sending additional assets to the region, including support for surveillance, reconnaissance, and forensics.”

In a Facebook post Wednesday, the day after the council met, Dan said Romania had told the meeting it expects more. “Romania conveyed the direct message that we expect stronger support through additional capabilities for countering drones, surveillance, reconnaissance, and expertise, as well as an adapted and strengthened NATO posture in the region,” he wrote.

Bulgaria has asked NATO to deploy combat aircraft and anti-drone systems on its territory, Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov said Oct. 16.

The attacks and the toll

On Oct. 5, the Turkish-owned cargo ship Royad Mammadov caught fire and sank in Romania’s exclusive economic zone, killing two crew members. On Oct. 13, drones struck two ships off Bulgaria. The HS Dignity sank near Krapets, leaving 11 crew members missing, and the Chelsea 3 was hit near Byala, where all 15 of her crew were rescued.

On Oct. 15, the San Marino-flagged chemical tanker Wine Trader was hit near the Romanian port of Sulina. Seven of its 12 crew members were reported missing.

Counts of ships hit differ by source and period. European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Tuesday there had been “six attacks in 10 days by suspected Russian drones,” calling it “a dangerous and unacceptable escalation.” The AP reported Oct. 16 that at least seven cargo vessels had been hit this month. Reuters and Al Jazeera reported that two chemical tankers were struck last week and that at least five other cargo vessels were hit over the previous 10 days.

Counts of the dead and missing also differ. The AP reported Oct. 16 that the attacks had left two people dead and at least 25 missing. Al Jazeera, citing Reuters, on Tuesday put the toll from the five other vessels at at least 23 sailors reported missing or dead.

Questions of responsibility

NATO, Romania and Bulgaria have not formally attributed the attacks off their coasts to any country, Al Jazeera reported. Bulgarian authorities have recovered suspected drone fragments from the Chelsea 3 and are examining them to determine their origin, The Maritime Executive reported Tuesday.

Russia’s Defense Ministry announced strikes on shipping in Ukrainian waters the same day the council met. The ministry said Tuesday that its drones overnight hit three cargo ships unloading at the Danube port of Reni, in Ukraine’s Odesa region. It said the ships carried military and dual-use cargo for Ukraine’s armed forces.

The ministry also said it hit cargo shipping bound for Odesa. Its statement, as carried by Russian media, described one vessel at sea; Reuters reported the ministry said two vessels were struck en route to Odesa.

Pressure on shipping

The Sulina channel links the Danube River to the Black Sea and is an export route for Ukraine.

The London market’s Joint War Committee in September expanded its high-risk listed area to the whole Black Sea, excluding the territorial waters of adjoining countries other than Russia and Ukraine, according to its circular. That leaves out the coastal waters of Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and Georgia. Quoted war-risk rates for some Black Sea voyages rose to between 0.6% and 1% of a ship’s value, from 0.2% to 0.5% a week earlier, according to figures from the brokers BPG and Signal Group.

War-risk cover for a voyage to Ukrainian or Russian Black Sea ports has reached about $2.5 million, adding about $35.70 to the freight cost of each ton of grain, according to figures from Ukraine’s Electronic Grain Exchange reported Tuesday. Ukraine has exported 3.34 million tons of wheat since the 2026-27 marketing year began, against 5.61 million tons a year earlier, the same report said.

On Oct. 17, two Romanian Air Force F-16s scrambled from Borcea air base and shot down two jet-powered Geran-family attack drones over Romania’s territorial waters near Sulina, at 6:01 p.m. and 6:05 p.m. local time (10:01 and 10:05 a.m. CT), Romania’s Defense Ministry said.