This shipping lane is now the world’s deadliest. It isn’t Hormuz.

Detailed summary

Fatal attacks in the Black Sea have jumped, disrupting trade routes and posing a new test for NATO. | World News

The deadliest body of water this year isn’t the Strait of Hormuz. A series of attacks in the Black Sea has killed more people than strikes on shipping so far in the war between Iran and the U.S., disrupting trade routes and turning up the heat on NATO.

Russian forces have targeted commercial ships carrying food exports from Ukraine out into the Black Sea. Ukraine, too, has attacked Russian shipping on the other side of the sea with drones.

In response, shippers have largely moved away from the waters off Ukraine and Russia to shelter from attacks. But the strikes have expanded to the waters of Romania and Bulgaria, both members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, in a spate of recent deadly incidents.

This year, there have been over 300 attacks in the Black Sea, according to figures from maritime security company Ambrey. The strikes have killed more than 30 seafarers and left more than 20 others missing, according to the Turkish Shipowners’ Association, MarineTraffic reports and local authorities.

That compares with around 130 attacks in the Strait of Hormuz and the wider Middle East, in which 25 seafarers have died, since the U.S.-Iran conflict began at the end of February, according to the International Maritime Organization.

In October, almost half of the attacks on a dozen vessels off Romania and Bulgaria left seafarers either dead, missing or injured.

Those attacks, on the edge of NATO territory, have been linked to Russia by some European leaders. Moscow has denied involvement.

They come alongside an increase in airspace violations, cyberattacks and acts of sabotage on the military alliance’s eastern border that European officials have linked to Moscow.

Romania and Bulgaria are particularly exposed to Russian hostility because their militaries and civil defense forces are among Europe’s least developed. NATO allies are deploying resources to assist in the region.

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