Controlled disposal · Romania
Explosive Gerbera drone fragment neutralised off Gura Portiței, Romania
· Off Gura Portiței
Explosive aerial-drone fragment recovery
On 23 August 2026 a suspect object was found floating in coastal waters off Gura Portiței, in Tulcea County, Romania. Navy explosive ordnance disposal specialists examined it; it was the body or a fragment of a Gerbera aerial drone containing explosive material.
The Romanian Ministry of National Defence confirmed the type and the explosive hazard. Earlier reporting called the drone Russian, and Gerbera is a type used by Russia, but the type alone does not establish who operated it. The date and route of its original flight are unknown, and the exact offshore jurisdiction was not specified.
The disposal team, working from a Coast Guard vessel, neutralised the object in place. No casualties were reported. The fragment came from an aerial drone, not a sea drone, and is not part of the Neptun Deep sea-drone incident.
Attribution and uncertainty
- Origin / operator / attribution
- Gerbera/Russian-used type; prior report called it Russian; exact operator not established by type alone
- Investigation / uncertainty
- Romanian MoD confirmed type and explosive hazard.
Sources · 1
Full record
Controlled disposal by authorities; kept separate from incident explosions.
Map positions are approximate anchors for the named place, not verified incident coordinates.
- Reported date
- 2026-08-23
- Date basis
- 23 August; EEST
- Location / jurisdiction
- Off Gura Portiței, Tulcea County; coastal waters, exact offshore jurisdiction not specified
- Event categories
- Floating debris discovery; Coast Guard response; in-situ neutralization
- What was reported
- Suspect floating object examined by Navy EOD.
- Aircraft / vessel / quantity
- Gerbera aerial-drone body/fragment
- Origin / operator / attribution
- Gerbera/Russian-used type; prior report called it Russian; exact operator not established by type alone
- Damage / casualties / disruption
- No casualties reported
- Response / outcome
- EOD team aboard Coast Guard vessel neutralized object in place.
- Investigation / uncertainty
- Romanian MoD confirmed type and explosive hazard.
- Route / entry mechanism
- Floating at sea; original flight route/date unknown
- Explosive payload
- Explosive material present
- Counting / links
- Aerial-drone wreckage at sea, not a naval USV and not another stage of Neptun Deep E047.
- Research provenance
- Prior research; relevant event source rechecked during export
Record E049. Record fields keep the register’s original wording.