Drone strikes sink one ship and damage another off Bulgaria, 11 sailors missing

Drones struck two cargo ships off Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast overnight into 13 October, sinking one and damaging the other. Eleven sailors from the sunken vessel remain missing while search operations continue. All 15 crew from the second ship were rescued, five of them treated for minor injuries. Prime Minister Rumen Radev summoned Russian Ambassador Eleonora Mitrofanova and scheduled a call with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

The Maltese-flagged, Odesa-registered Chelsea 3, described as Ukrainian-owned, was hit by three aerial drones about 18 nautical miles east of Byala. Its deck and hull were struck. The crew comprised seven Ukrainian citizens and eight Azerbaijani citizens. Border police evacuated them. The vessel was travelling from Giresun in Turkey toward Giurgiulești in Romania or Moldova.

A second ship sank about 17 nautical miles east of Krapets. One crew member was rescued immediately; later reports put the number of survivors at five and the missing at eleven. President Iliana Iotova identified the sunken vessel in some accounts as the Guinea-Bissau-flagged HS Dignity. Details of flag, cargo and full crew remain incomplete in open sources.

Radev said there is not yet solid, unambiguous evidence to assign blame, yet “logic suggests the outcome benefits the Russian Federation.” He called the attacks absolutely unacceptable and requested NATO and EU assistance. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha attributed the strikes to Russia and said they showed disregard for civilian lives and maritime security. The Russian ambassador stated she had no information from the Defence Ministry about the incidents.

This is the second wave of drone attacks on merchant ships in or near Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone in a week. On 6 October the Alfa Watan sank after similar strikes, with ten crew, including nine Syrians, presumed dead. The Black Sea shipping lanes have seen repeated targeting of commercial vessels since the intensification of the Ukraine war. The current incidents leave eleven people unaccounted for and place Bulgaria in the position of summoning a foreign ambassador while the attribution remains probabilistic rather than proven in public evidence.