Black Sea Drone Attacks Sink One Ship, Set Another Ablaze Off Bulgaria
Black Sea Drone Attacks Sink One Ship, Set Another Ablaze Off Bulgaria
Drones struck two Turkish-owned merchant ships in Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone early on Tuesday in the latest Black Sea drone attacks, sinking one vessel and setting the other on fire in a sharp escalation of the threat to commercial shipping.
Distress signals went out at around 4am local time, roughly 70 nautical miles east of the Bulgarian coastal town of Byala. By 9am, one of the two ships had vanished from the border police radar.
Alfa Watan sinks; crew missing
The Togolese-flagged general cargo vessel Alfa Watan suffered critical structural damage in the strike and sank within minutes. A Bulgarian ferry that witnessed the explosion rushed to the scene and found overturned life rafts and floating life jackets, but no crew members.
Bulgarian authorities launched a search and rescue operation for the missing sailors. Prime Minister Rumen Radev did not say how many people were unaccounted for.
Able’s crew evacuated after fire
The second vessel, the Palau-flagged Able, caught fire after being struck. All 18 crew members, 11 Turkish and seven Indian nationals, abandoned ship and were pulled from the water by the Bulgarian-flagged ferry Dioscuria, which diverted to help.
Two of the rescued sailors suffered serious injuries, one with burns and another with a head injury, and were flown to hospital in Varna.
The Able was carrying wheat and heading south when the attack happened. The Alfa Watan was sailing north. Both ships are Turkish-owned, according to the Equasis merchant shipping database.
“Absolutely unacceptable,” says Bulgarian PM
Radev said both aerial and maritime drones were used in the assault. He called the attack “a flagrant violation of maritime law” and said such an incident inside Bulgaria’s economic zone was “absolutely unacceptable,” before convening an emergency meeting of ministers.
“The situation significantly complicates navigation in the Black Sea, drives up insurance premiums and makes maritime traffic extremely difficult,” he said.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also condemned the strikes, calling attacks on civilian shipping in the Black Sea “unacceptable” and saying the developments were “very concerning” while exact circumstances were still being established.
Black Sea drone attacks: a widening pattern
The strikes came a day after another Turkish-owned cargo ship, the Royad Mammadov, caught fire and sank off Romania in what Ukraine described as a Russian drone attack. The Azerbaijani captain died and another Azerbaijani crew member remains missing, according to Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry.
Tuesday’s attacks were the first of their kind off Bulgaria, but they fit a widening pattern. Maritime risk consultancy Ambrey said at least 45 merchant vessels were attacked over the past 12 months in parts of the Black Sea previously not listed as high risk, an area that recorded no strikes in the 12 months before that. Turkey’s Chamber of Maritime Commerce says 226 civilian and commercial vessels have been attacked in the Black Sea since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the vast majority this year.
In August, a drone exploded near the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline linking Turkey to Ukraine, close to Bulgaria’s border with Romania. Ukraine denied targeting Bulgaria after the Bulgarian Defence Ministry said the drone was of a type “widely used by the Ukrainian military.”
Frequently asked questions
What happened in the Black Sea on Tuesday?
Drones hit two Turkish-owned cargo ships about 70 nautical miles off Bulgaria’s coast. The Alfa Watan sank with its crew missing, while the Able caught fire and its 18 crew were rescued.
Who was on board the ships?
The Able’s 18 crew were 11 Turkish and seven Indian nationals; two were seriously hurt. The number of missing from the Alfa Watan has not been disclosed.
Why does this matter for shipping?
Bulgaria’s prime minister warned the attacks complicate navigation, push up insurance premiums and make Black Sea traffic extremely difficult. At least 45 merchant ships have been hit in previously lower-risk Black Sea areas in the past year.
