Four sailors are feared dead after a cargo ship was reportedly hit with a mine and sank off the coast of Ukraine.
Estonian-owned ship ‘Helt’ sunk on Thursday off the port of Odessa after the explosion.
Two crew members were in a life raft at sea while four others were unaccounted for.
Igor Ilves, managing director of Tallinn-based manager Vista Shipping Agency, said: “The vessel has finally sunk.
“Two of the crew are in a raft on the water and four others are missing. I don’t know where they are at the moment.”
It comes hours after a Bangladeshi vessel was also hit by a missile or bomb at another port.
Mr Ilves said the ship may have hit a mine. "It’s a big problem - nobody can help them. The Ukrainians cannot go to sea because it is under Russian control.”
He said the crew comprised four Ukrainian nationals, one Russian and one Belarusian.
NATO's Shipping Center warned on Wednesday that there was "a high risk of collateral damage on civilian shipping in the northwestern part of the Black Sea", which included mines because of the war in Ukraine.
It said there were several reports of civilian ships being hit directly or indirectly as a “result of the acts of war” in Ukrainian waters and adjacent international waters.
Late on Wednesday evening, a missile or bomb struck a Bangladeshi-owned cargo ship in the Black Sea port of Olvia, killing one of its crew members.
Efforts were underway to rescue the others from the Banglar Samriddhi, its owner said on Thursday. The ship had been stuck in port since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
"The ship came under attack and one engineer was killed," Pijush Dutta, executive director of Bangladesh Shipping Corp, said.
"It was not clear whether it was a bomb or missile or which side launched the attack. The other 28 crewmen are unharmed," he said, without providing further details.
In Dhaka, the Russian Embassy said in a statement that the circumstances of the ship being hit were “being established”.
"We express deep condolences to the near and dear ones of the deceased,” it said.
Videos on social media appeared to show crew members asking for help after the ship was hit.
Mr Dutta said he was aware of the videos, but declined to comment further.
