Ukrainian MAGURA Maritime Drone Explodes in Constanța Port

Romanian authorities activated the Red Intervention Plan on Friday after a maritime drone discovered in Constanța Port exploded, reportedly setting several containers on fire and forcing the closure of the port area.

The drone, apparently from the Magura drone family (Ukrainian), was found Friday morning near the headquarters of the Romanian Agency for Saving Human Life at Sea, known as ARSVOM, in the area of Constanța Port’s North Breakwater. According to preliminary information, the object was discovered at around 05:50, prompting police, gendarmerie and border police units to secure the area.

Access to the North Breakwater was closed as a safety measure while authorities attempted to establish the nature of the object and assess the potential risk. Early information indicated that the device may have been a maritime reconnaissance drone, although this had not been officially confirmed at the time of the first reports.

The situation escalated later in the morning when the drone exploded. Local reports said several containers in the port caught fire after the blast. It was not immediately clear whether the drone detonated on its own or exploded due to an explosive charge it was carrying.

Ukrainian MAGURA maritime drone family

The object discovered in Constanța Port appears visually similar to Ukraine’s MAGURA family of unmanned surface vessels, a class of naval drones that has changed the balance of power in the Black Sea.

The MAGURA series, operated by Ukraine’s military intelligence, became known after repeated attacks on Russian naval assets and has been described by naval analysts as one of the most significant unmanned maritime systems of the war.

The MAGURA V5 is a low-profile, fast, hard-to-detect surface drone designed for missions ranging from surveillance and reconnaissance to one-way explosive attacks, while newer variants have reportedly expanded payload and range.

This context matters because if the Constanța object is confirmed to belong to the same operational family or design category, the incident would point not merely to a drifting object but to the arrival of a proven Black Sea naval warfare platform within Romania’s most important port.

Explosion aftermath

Following the explosion, Constanța Port was closed, and Romania’s Red Intervention Plan was activated. A crisis cell was also activated at the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

According to sources quoted in local media, the object may have been a maritime drone carrying several dozen kilograms of explosives. The same sources suggested that the drone could have been of Ukrainian origin and may have lost control, drifting into the port area. Romanian authorities had not officially confirmed the drone’s origin.

The incident took place in a sensitive area of Romania’s main maritime gateway, close to critical port infrastructure and the Oil Terminal. Constanța Port is one of the most important transport hubs on the Black Sea and has gained additional strategic importance since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The Black Sea has become a high-risk security environment since the beginning of the war, with drifting mines, military debris, aerial drones and maritime drones repeatedly raising concerns for countries in the region. Romania, a NATO member, has already faced several incidents involving drones or military fragments reaching or approaching its territory.

Friday’s incident also comes about one week after a drone crashed in Galați County, where local reports said an explosion and fire affected an apartment in a residential building. That case added to wider concerns over the proximity of the war in Ukraine to Romanian territory.

Authorities are continuing their investigation in Constanța Port to determine the exact type of drone, its origin, how it reached the port area and whether other risks remain. No official casualty report had been announced in the first information available after the explosion.