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Bulgarian PM: Drones Sink Ship, Hit Another Near Black Sea Coast

10:23 AM ETConfirmed

World Desk

In Short: Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev said drones struck two ships off Bulgaria's Black Sea coast, sinking one and prompting emergency rescue operations.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev said drones struck two ships off Bulgaria's Black Sea coast, sinking one and prompting emergency rescue operations. The Maltese-flagged ship Chelsea 3 was hit by three drones, with all 15 crew members evacuated and five receiving treatment for minor injuries.

The attacks occurred around 3 a.m. local time, approximately 20 miles and 21 miles from the Bulgarian coast. The rescued crew comprised 11 Turkish and seven Indian nationals, according to Radev.

Radev identified the first vessel as the Malta-flagged cargo ship Chelsea 3, with seven Ukrainians and eight Azerbaijanis on board. He added that another vessel was struck 17 nautical miles east of Krapets, a Bulgarian village.

The strikes on the two ships occurred around 80 miles off the Bulgarian coast, east of Cape St. Atanas and the town of Byala, where Chelsea 3 was attacked.

Radev said he would summon the Russian ambassador to Bulgaria, Eleonora Mitrofanova, for a conversation Tuesday. While authorities do not possess clear evidence on who was responsible for the drone attacks, Radev suggested logic indicates the result benefits the Russian Federation.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha condemned the strike, accusing Moscow of deliberately disregarding civilian lives and maritime security in the Black Sea. He noted that a Ukrainian-owned, Malta-flagged ship was hit by three aerial drones, and that shortly afterward another ship was hit and sank.

The conflict has spread across the eastern Black Sea, with at least 45 merchant vessels attacked over the past 12 months in areas previously not listed as high risk, according to the maritime risk management group Ambrey.

Radev said Bulgaria is suffering significant economic and financial damage and added that his country will initiate talks with neighboring Romania and Turkey on joint proposals to guarantee the safety of shipping in the Black Sea.

The intensifying violence comes amid a broader Russian campaign against Ukrainian port infrastructure and commercial shipping. Ukraine established its own Black Sea maritime corridor in August 2023, after Russia withdrew from a U.N.- and Turkey-brokered grain deal.

While exact circumstances of these incidents are still being established, the developments are very concerning, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote online.

What this adds

Background

What's confirmed

• SOFIA, Bulgaria -- Drones struck two ships in the Black Sea off Bulgaria on Tuesday, sinking one and prompting emergency rescue operations, Prime Minister Rumen Radev said.
• “Russia’s latest attack on commercial vessels near Bulgaria’s territorial waters, which injured Ukrainian and Azerbaijani citizens, once again demonstrates Moscow’s deliberate disregard for civilian lives and maritime security in the Black Sea,” Sybiha wrote.
• Two ships were struck off the Bulgarian coast on Oct. 13, Prime Minister Rumen Radev said, adding that he would summon the Russian ambassador over the latest such incident in the Black Sea.
• The conflict has also spread across the eastern Black Sea, with at least 45 merchant vessels attacked over the past 12 months in areas of the Black Sea previously not listed as high risk, the maritime risk management group Ambrey said last month.
• Radev wrote on social media that a Ukrainian-owned cargo ship was “hit by three aerial drones”, and that shortly afterward another ship was hit and sank.
• Drones struck a Ukrainian-owned, Malta-flagged ship off the coast of Bulgaria (Photo: REUTERS / Roman Petushkov) A Malta-flagged cargo ship managed by an Odesa-based company was hit by drones off the Bulgarian coast in the Black Sea, drawing an immediate reaction from Ukraine’s foreign ministry, Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev reported on October 13.
• SOFIA: Bulgarian authorities launched a major search on Tuesday for the missing crew of a ship that sank in the Black Sea after drones hit two vessels in what the prime minister slammed as an “absolutely unacceptable” attack.
• Turkiye’s Chamber of Maritime Commerce (IMEAK) said in August that since the start of the war, 226 civilian and commercial vessels have been attacked in the Black Sea, the vast majority this year.
• “This is an unacceptable attack in Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone. It is a blatant violation of international law and maritime law,” Radev said.
• The search was launched about 70 nautical miles east of the coastal town of Byala after the Togolese-flagged vessel sank, authorities said.
• Morning Rundown: Trump weighs firing Kimberly Guilfoyle, ‘furious’ judge halts tree removal at D.C. golf course, and Bills beat Rams in instant classic Eleven sailors were missing at sea on Tuesday from a ship sunk by a drone attack off the coast of Bulgaria, possibly the second deadly sinking of a cargo vessel in the area in a week, prompting Bulgaria to summon Russia’s ambassador.
• Although Bulgaria stopped short of directly accusing Russia of carrying out the attacks, Prime Minister Rumen Radev said their outcome benefited Moscow.

What's still developing

• The 136-meter vessel was later left without its crew near Cape St. Athanasius.
• Russia has been bombing Ukrainian Black Sea ports, forcing Ukraine to rely increasingly on river ports along the Danube and shipping routes close to the coasts of NATO members Bulgaria and Romania.
• Hungarian lawmakers on Oct. 13 voted to remove anti-LGBT provisions in a 2021 “child protection” law adopted under nationalist ex-leader Viktor Orban.

Sources

• Hürriyet Daily Newslink
• Kuwait Timeslink
• Kyivindependentlink
• NBC Newslink
• UNITED24 Medialink
• Arabnewslink
• Al Jazeeralink
• Abcnewslink
• Hurriyetdailynewslink
• AFPlink
• Eaworldviewlink
• Ariselink
• Splash247link
• Englishlink
• Enlink
• WarpBeat — background on Drones Strike Two Ships Off Bulgaria's Black Sea Coast link
• WozCast — video link