Black Sea: Drones hit two merchant ships off Bulgaria, one sank; Radev calls it “absolutely unacceptable”

Two merchant ships were hit by drones overnight on Tuesday, October 13, in the Black Sea just outside Bulgaria’s territorial waters, and one of them sank. “The latest attack on a merchant ship in the immediate vicinity of Bulgaria’s territorial waters is absolutely unacceptable,” Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev wrote in a post, announcing that he would summon Russia’s ambassador the same day.

What happened off Byala and Krapets

According to Radev, a distress signal was received at 01:30 local time from a ship 18 nautical miles east of the coastal town of Byala. The Chelsea 3, flying the Maltese flag, registered in Odesa and Ukrainian-owned, was struck on the deck and the side by three drones. All 15 crew members, seven Ukrainians and eight Azerbaijanis, were taken safely to the port of Varna, and five needed medical help.

At an emergency meeting of the government’s Security Council, the prime minister was also briefed on a second ship, hit 17 nautical miles east of the village of Krapets, which sank. In his post Radev said one crew member was rescued. Bulgarian officials later spoke of 11 missing, a number that has not been confirmed in an official announcement.

Who is responsible

Sofia has not officially attributed the attacks. “We do not have clear and definitive evidence to attribute responsibility to either side,” Radev wrote, adding however that “logic indicates that the outcome benefits the Russian Federation”. Bulgaria’s permanent representatives to NATO and the EU were briefed, and the government is asking for support for an investigation that will show which country the drones came from, as well as help to strengthen surveillance of its air and sea space and its ability to respond.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen condemned the attacks, writing that “the Black Sea has become yet another front of escalation of Russia’s war in Ukraine”. She added that the attacks put the lives of the crews at serious risk and that those responsible must be held accountable.

A new attack a week later

It is a new incident after October 6, when drones hit two merchant ships in Bulgaria’s EEZ and, the same day, a ship carrying Ukrainian grain sank in Romania’s EEZ. The escalation in the western Black Sea, next to two NATO states, has already put on the table Turkey’s proposal for a moratorium on attacks on merchant ships, without any agreement being reached.