Black Sea: drone strikes on shipping

The Black Sea drone campaign remains active, with press reports indicating the laden LPG carrier Gas Lisbon was struck and set afire off Romania on 21 July; all crew were rescued and three hospitalized. Per the NAVAREA warning issued the same day, the strike fell within a reported mine area, while a separate NAVAREA notice flagged hazardous operations off Ukraine. Press sources count 20 vessels struck on 15 July, including 17 oil tankers, with 12 struck on 17 July and 13 on 18 July; shadow-fleet tankers Louise 1 and Banda were among those hit, alongside a tanker fire off Novorossiysk. India has summoned the Russian envoy following the killing of four sailors in a Ukraine attack, while a separate Russian strike on a grain vessel off Odesa reportedly killed ten crew. ChartNav's monitor cautions that AIS coverage limits the figures: terrestrial receivers show near-zero traffic across the Kerch Strait, Novorossiysk Approaches and Odesa Approaches, with vessels sailing dark and heavy GPS interference distorting the data, leaving the Bosporus as the best AIS-visible proxy for Black Sea flow.