Two Merchant Ships Struck by Drones off Bulgaria's Black Sea Coast

Two merchant ships were hit by unknown drones off Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast on 13 October 2026. One sank. Twenty crew members were rescued in total while eleven remain missing. Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev blamed Russia for the attacks and summoned the Russian ambassador. This is the second such incident in six days.

The strikes occurred in international waters near Bulgaria. Details on the vessels’ flags, cargo, and exact positions have not been fully released by Bulgarian authorities. Rescue operations recovered the surviving crew. The missing sailors are the focus of continued search efforts. No group has claimed responsibility.

Radev’s statement linked the attacks to the ongoing war in Ukraine and to earlier drone incidents in the same area. Bulgaria, a NATO member, has previously recorded similar violations of its maritime approaches. The summons of the ambassador is the standard diplomatic step when a government attributes an attack to a foreign state. Russia has not publicly responded to the latest accusation in the reports available.

The Black Sea has seen repeated drone and missile activity since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Merchant shipping has faced risks from both sides’ operations and from mines. Bulgaria’s coast is farther from the main combat zones than Romania’s or Ukraine’s, yet the recent pair of incidents brings the pattern closer to a NATO shoreline. Insurance rates for Black Sea transits have already risen in response to earlier attacks.

The loss of one vessel and the missing crew constitute a concrete cost beyond the diplomatic protest. Shipowners and crews operating in the region now have another data point on the reach of the drone threat. Bulgarian maritime authorities have not announced a temporary closure of any specific route, but the repeated nature of the incidents will shape decisions by operators in the coming days.

NATO has not issued a collective statement on this specific attack. Previous drone incidents near allied coasts have produced statements of support for the affected member and calls for de-escalation. The practical response so far remains national: rescue, investigation, and the ambassadorial summons. Whether additional defensive measures are deployed along the Bulgarian coast will depend on the findings of the current inquiry.

The second attack within a week reduces the chance that the earlier incident was an isolated error. For crews and companies, the operational implication is straightforward: the risk window in that stretch of the Black Sea has lengthened. For Bulgaria, the political implication is that attribution to Russia now rests on two recent cases rather than one. The search for the missing sailors continues.