Update, 5 November 2026: The tanker Mentor is no longer drifting near the coast of Bulgaria. A Turkish ship took it in tow during the night and is towing it south, the port authority in Varna said.
On 4 November, the second tug, Ramazan Bey, was also towing Mentor. Later its towline to the tanker broke. The tanker drifted off Shabla and Cape Kaliakra in Bulgaria, Bulgaria's transport ministry said. Traffic controllers told the tug to stay near the tanker.
The ministry said Mentor carries about 11,000 tonnes of sunflower oil. This is an early figure. No leak or pollution has been reported. There is still no crew on the tanker.
All seven crew of the Turkish tug Ayaz Bey are safe. The tug hit the ship it was towing in the Black Sea early on 4 November 2026. This happened near Neptun, a town on the coast of Romania.
What happened
Ayaz Bey and a second tug, Ramazan Bey, were towing the ship Mentor to Turkey. Mentor is a chemical tanker under the flag of Antigua and Barbuda. It was damaged earlier in Ukrainian waters near Odesa. There was no crew on board Mentor.
In the night, the weather was bad. The towlines broke. The crews connected them again. Then Ayaz Bey hit Mentor, the Romanian Ministry of Internal Affairs said.
The Romanian Naval Authority gave more details later. It said Mentor drifted after the towline broke. Ayaz Bey had technical problems with its propulsion, which is the engine and propeller system. After that, the tug hit Mentor.
At about 04:20 local time, Ayaz Bey sent a mayday. A mayday is the international distress call for a ship in serious danger.
The rescue
The rescue was led by MRCC Constanța. MRCC means Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre. Ships from the Romanian Border Police and the emergency service went to the tug. The Romanian sea rescue agency sent its rescue ship SAR Ares.
The wind was strong and the sea was very rough. Because of this, helicopters and planes could not be used.
The ministry first said the tug had sunk. It said the Dutch tug Odin took three crew on board, to land them at the port of Mangalia. The other four crew said they did not need help.
Later in the morning, the Romanian Naval Authority said all seven crew were safe and nobody was hurt. It said the tug was stable and safely anchored at Mangalia. Mentor was drifting in Bulgarian waters, it said.
Tug crews face many dangers. Read also how five crew escaped in a liferaft after a tug caught fire off Japan.
Safety during towing in bad weather
The cause of this accident is not known yet. But these points help crews on tugs and on ships under tow.
Check the weather forecast before and during the tow. Plan places where you can shelter or wait if the weather gets worse.
Stay well clear of the towline and the area where it can whip back if it breaks. This is called the snap-back zone. A breaking line can kill.
If the towline breaks, do not rush to reconnect in the dark and in high seas. Keep a safe distance from the drifting ship first.
A tug close to a drifting ship can be pushed into it by wind and waves. Keep enough sea room and engine power in reserve.
Report any engine or steering problem to the bridge and the other tug at once. Tell the rescue centre early, before the situation gets worse.
Wear your lifejacket on deck during the tow. Know where your survival suit and the liferaft are.
Make sure the EPIRB works and its battery and release unit are in date. An EPIRB is a beacon that sends your position to rescuers.
Find emergency numbers and seafarer helplines in Crewboard's useful links for seafarers.
Looking for work on tugs or other ships? See the external vacancies on Crewboard.
Cover photo: Sailors attach a towing line from a tug to a US Navy ship at Sasebo, Japan, in November 2017. Illustrative photo, not from this incident. Photo: Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jordan Crouch/US Navy, public domain (cropped).
Sources: Radio Bulgaria: Tanker carrying sunflower oil adrift off Bulgaria after towline breaks (4 Nov 2026), Fakti.bg: The Mentor tanker is now far from Varna (5 Nov 2026), BurgasMedia: Turkish ship tows stricken tanker Mentor south (5 Nov 2026), Romanian Ministry of Internal Affairs: rescue of seven seafarers from a tug in danger of sinking in the Black Sea (4 Nov 2026, in Romanian), Radio România Constanța: all seven crew of the tug are safe, Romanian Naval Authority (4 Nov 2026, in Romanian), Romania Times: Turkish tugboat Ayaz Bey sinks near Neptun (4 Nov 2026), Informat.ro: Tugboat in the Black Sea near Neptun, three sailors rescued (4 Nov 2026).
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