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A Panama-flagged, Estonian, merchant cargo ship suffered an explosion and SANK in the Black Sea off the coast of Ukraine this morning. Two crew members are in a life boat, four are missing. Rescue vessels are on the scene now.

The HELT Cargo ship "may have hit a mine" according to a company manager.

That area is declared a war zone and a number of merchant vessels are basically stuck there, unable and unwilling to move for fear of wartime hostile acts.

In ANOTHER incident also this morning, a missile or bomb hit a Bangladeshi-owned cargo ship in the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Olvia, killing one of its crew members, and efforts were underway to rescue the others from the vessel, its owner said on Thursday.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.