Drones attacked two ships off the coast of Bulgaria: one sank

In the Black Sea off the coast of Bulgaria, drones attacked two merchant ships on October 6. One of them was seriously damaged and sank, while the second caught fire after being hit.

This is reported by Novinite, citing the Bulgarian and Romanian authorities.

The attack took place in Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone. The Togolese-flagged general cargo vessels ALFA WATAN and Palau-flagged ABLE were hit.

The ALFA WATAN suffered significant hull damage and sank east of the Bulgarian coast. There is currently no information on the fate of its crew members.

A fire broke out on board the ABLE after the attack. All 18 crew members abandoned ship. The sailors were picked up by the Bulgarian-flagged passenger ferry DIOSCURIA, which was dispatched to the incident area to provide assistance.

Romanian Coast Guard vessels and a helicopter from the General Aviation Inspectorate also joined the search and rescue operation. The injured are being transported for emergency medical care.

Rescue operations are ongoing east of Cape St. Athanasius and the town of Byala, about 80 miles off the Bulgarian coast.

According to Maritime.bg, the attacks may have been coordinated and targeted specifically at commercial vessels in the area. However, the origin of the drones and all the circumstances of the incident are currently being established.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev has called a meeting of state authorities following the attack on ships in the country’s exclusive economic zone. The meeting will be attended by representatives of the ministries of defense, interior, transport, environment and water resources, the Presidential Administration and security services.

This is the first recorded case of a drone attack on ships in Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone.

It was previously reported that Russian forces launched a missile strike on the civilian dry cargo ship GOLDEN LEO, which was carrying grain and was leaving the combat zone. The attack killed five people, and five more crew members are missing.

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