Bulgaria calls off search for 10 missing sailors after drone attack sinks cargo ship
A second vessel hit in the same strike is still on fire and expected to go down, as Bulgaria's president convenes her national security council.
Bulgaria has called off the search for the 10 crew of a cargo ship sunk in a drone attack in the Black Sea, after finding no trace of the sailors.
The operation ended at 5pm local time (4pm CET) on Tuesday and will not resume, Rumen Nikolov, head of rescue operations at Bulgaria's Maritime Administration, told reporters in Varna on Wednesday.
Searchers found three life rafts and an overturned lifeboat from the 83-metre long Alfa Watan but no one from its crew, he said, adding that no trace of the sailors was likely to be found.
The second ship hit in the attack, the Able, will probably sink as well, Nikolov said, according to shipping news site Maritime.bg. Its engine room flooded after a sea drone struck the stern, it is sitting heavily down at the stern and it was still burning on Wednesday morning.
Pollution in the area is minimal, he said.
Bulgaria President Iliana Iotova has convened the country's national security council to discuss maritime security.
All 18 of the Able's crew, 11 Turkish and seven Indian, were rescued by the Bulgarian ferry Dioscuria and are now in Varna. Two were hospitalised, one with burns and one with a head injury.
Sea and aerial drones hit the ships at about 3am local time (2am CET) on Tuesday, around 70 nautical miles east of the town of Byala in Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone, Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev said.
The crew of the Dioscuria, which was in the area, saw an explosion on the first ship and rushed to the scene, Radev confirmed. They found an overturned lifeboat and life jackets but no one from the crew.
Radev said two helicopters were sent to Varna to pick up rescue teams and a Su-25 aircraft was deployed to carry out aerial reconnaissance over the area.
Both vessels had sent distress signals during the night and one disappeared from Border Police radar at about 9am local time (8am CET) on Tuesday, public broadcaster BNR reported.
Both vessels are Turkish-owned, according to the Equasis merchant shipping database and it is believed to be the first attack on shipping in Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone.
Ship tracking website vesselfinder.com shows the Alfa Watan was sailing under the flag of Togo and was headed for the Romanian port of Sulina.
The second ship was carrying wheat and sailing south, Radev said. The cargo of the sunken Alfa Watan is not yet known.
Radev, who called the attack "absolutely unacceptable", did not say who launched the drones, while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the developments "concerning".
Three attacks on civilian shipping in the Black Sea within two days
Tuesday's attack occurred the day after a Turkish-owned cargo ship carrying grain from Ukraine to Italy was attacked off Romania's coast in the Black Sea by at least one drone and sank after catching fire, killing two crew members.
Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry said the ship's captain, Azerbaijani national Rustam Ismayil oglu Hasanov, died and his body was being repatriated. A second Azerbaijani crew member, Mahammad Hamza oglu Suleymanzade, is still missing and the search and rescue operation is ongoing. Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry said their families were informed and they were receiving logistical and financial support.
11 other crew members were rescued by the Romanian authorities. Three Azerbaijani sailors and one Indian crew member among them are receiving emergency medical care in Romania.
Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry explicitly reiterated its urgent warning to Azerbaijani citizens to refrain from travelling to active conflict zones, working in high-risk areas, or taking employment on transport vessels operating along contested maritime corridors.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blamed Russia for yesterday's sinking of the cargo ship and called it "a horrific strike by two Russian drones on a civilian vessel" in neutral waters.
India condemned Tuesday's attack as part of the crew members were Indian nationals. The Indian Foreign Ministry released a statement saying that "India views these attacks on commercial shipping and seafarers with grave concern," adding that "the targeting of traffic in international waterways is severely undermining global commerce and welfare of people across the world."
Bulgaria Suspends Search for Missing Crew as Russia Denies Attack
The crew of a small Turkish cargo ship struck early Tuesday morning, October 6, off the coast of Bulgaria has not been located, and based on the results of the search, Bulgaria ended the search. Officials told the media in a briefing on Wednesday about the two attacks, that they believe the cargo ship Alfa Watan (3,200 dwt), registered in Tonga, sank in a matter of minutes, and that they were continuing to monitor the second vessel, Able (7,400 dwt), which has been abandoned in the Black Sea.
Multiple agencies from Bulgaria, aided by Romanian aircraft, searched the Black Sea approximately 70 miles east of the Bulgarian coast. Another cargo ship, Mercy, flagged in St. Kitts and Nevis, also diverted to the area to aid in the search.
The authorities said they had received a signal from the Alfa Watan’s distress beacon at around 02:30 local time. Initial reports said they had located an overturned lifeboat, three rafts, and various debris. There was no sign of the crew, and the search was unable to locate any traces of the crew.
Bulgarian authorities have declined to comment on the specific number of seafarers who were lost, but media reports are saying there were between 10 and 12 crew, likely all from Syria. The ship, which was built in 1976, was owned by a Turkish company and was sailing into the Black Sea.
The second ship that was hit yesterday, another Turkish-owned general cargo ship, Able, registered in Palau, continues to draft after the evacuation. The Chief Director of Bulgaria’s Maritime Administration Agency, Rumen Nikolov, reported that the ship had issued a distress call around 03:30, with the crew reporting they were preparing to evacuate the ship.
Nikolov reported the ship was struck in the stern and that a large fire had resulted. The captain suffered a head injury but was released from the hospital. The chief engineer was severely burned and is in a hospital. The other crewmembers received a medical check and are in a hotel in Varna.
The authorities reported that the Able is low in the water at the stern. Nikolov set the odds at 90 percent that he believed the ship would sink in the coming hours.
Russia’s embassy in Bulgaria told Reuters that the two ships were not on the Ministry of Defense’s target list. It cautioned that an investigation was needed to identify the source of the drones that struck the two ships.
The Maritime Administrator in Bulgaria, however, said the ship was outside the country’s direct responsibility and that they were not planning an underwater search. He did not comment on whether any debris from the drones had been recovered.
Bulgaria’s president, Illiana Votova, however, convened the National Security Advisory Council to map out steps to increase security in the region. She said Bulgaria would be working with Romania and Turkey to strengthen safety measures for merchant shipping while also calling on both Russia and Ukraine to stop the attacks on merchant shipping in the Black Sea.
Top photo from 2023 by Alkhdair - courtesy of Vessel Finder
Bulgaria Says One Crew is Missing and Second Rescued After Drone Attack
Bulgarian officials are denouncing the attack on two small cargo ships in the Black Sea while reporting that the crew of one vessel is missing. The reports said the two ships were attacked overnight, with 18 seafarers rescued and a search and rescue operation continuing.
Bulgaria's Prime Minister Rumen Radev convened a special meeting of the government, and he called the attacks “absolutely unacceptable” and a “gross violation of international law.” He declined to officially state who had attacked the ships, but reports are widely attributing the strikes to Russia, a charge repeated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a posting on social media.
“If this war is not ended in time, it will continue to expand its spatial scope and increase the risk of even a global conflict,” said Radev. He pointed out that Bulgaria does not border Ukraine or Russia and lies at a critical point in the Black Sea, more than 140 nautical miles from Ukraine.
According to the reports, the Bulgarian ferry Dioscuria was in the area approximately 70 nautical miles east of Byala in the eastern part of Bulgaria when the attacks took place. Bulgarian officials said the strikes were attacks by air and sea drones.
The ferry’s crew saw an explosion and headed to the area, which officials emphasized was in Bulgaria’s EEZ. The Navy, Air Force, and Border Police also responded.
The ferry crew reported seeing an overturned lifeboat, three rafts, and life jackets in the water but was unable to locate any crewmembers. The ship, which is being identified as the Turkish-owned Alfa Watan (3,160 dwt), is believed to have sunk. Built in 1976, it is registered in Togo. The ship was sailing from Egypt and bound for Sulina, Romania, according to its AIS transmission.
The Bulgarian forces also responded to a second vessel that was on fire and aided in the rescue of 18 crewmembers from Turkey and India. Two were reported to be severely injured and were transported by the Bulgarian Navy to Varna for medical treatment. The 16 other crewmembers were transported to shore by a border patrol boat.
The second vessel is identified as the Turkish-owned Able. Built in 1991, the ship is registered in Palau and reportedly had a cargo of wheat heading for Italy.
Bulgarian officials reported they are continuing to search for the crew from the first ship. They did not comment on the number of missing individuals.
The reports said it was the first attack in Bulgarian waters, and it was quick to draw international commendation. Hungary’s Prime Minister posted on social media that they would stand with Bulgaria.
A cargo ship sank and its crew went missing after drones attacked two merchant vessels in Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea on October 6, Bulgarian officials said, raising concerns about the widening risks to civilian shipping from the war in Ukraine.
The vessels were attacked by air and sea drones at about 3 a.m. local time, around 70 nautical miles (130 km) east of the Bulgarian coastal town of Byala, Prime Minister Rumen Radev said.
One of the ships, the Togo-flagged Alfa Watan, sank. The vessel was Turkish-owned and was reportedly heading towards the Romanian port of Sulina. Its cargo and the number of people aboard were not immediately clear.
A Bulgarian vessel that went to the scene found an overturned lifeboat, life jackets and rafts but no crew members, Radev said. A search-and-rescue operation was under way.
The second vessel, the grain carrier Able, was hit and caught fire. Its 18 crew members - 11 Turkish and seven Indian nationals - were rescued by the Bulgarian roll-on/roll-off vessel Dioscuria, Radev said. Two crew members, including the captain, were seriously injured and taken to a military hospital in Varna.
"This is an absolutely unacceptable attack, a gross violation of international law and maritime affairs," Radev said at an emergency government meeting, BTA reported.
He said it was not immediately known whether the drones had originated from Russia or Ukraine.
Rising Black Sea risks
The incident comes as attacks on commercial shipping in the Black Sea have increased, with vessels carrying Ukrainian grain among those hit, and as European governments warn of a growing threat from Russian hybrid warfare.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen condemned the attacks, saying the situation in the Black Sea was becoming increasingly concerning.
"Commercial ships – and innocent crews – are being targeted, with lives already lost at sea," von der Leyen said on X. "Attacks on civilian shipping are unacceptable."
She noted that the incident came a day after a Turkish ship carrying Ukrainian grain was hit and sunk off Romania.
Radev did not directly blame Russia for Tuesday's attack, but linked the incident to the war in Ukraine.
"As I have long maintained, if this war is not halted in time, it will continue to expand its geographical reach and increase risks, including the risk of a global conflict," he said, according to BNR.
Bulgaria, a NATO member, does not border Russia or Ukraine but occupies a strategically important position on the western Black Sea. Its exclusive economic zone covers more than 29,000 square kilometres.
President Iliana Iotova will convene Bulgaria's Consultative Council on National Security on October 7 to discuss risks to maritime security and critical infrastructure stemming from the war in Ukraine, her office said.
The Bulgarian authorities were also monitoring the sunken vessel and the surrounding area for possible environmental risks, Radev said.
The incident followed a separate attack near Ukraine's port of Odesa in which a Marshall Islands-flagged vessel was reportedly hit, killing one crew member and injuring seven others.
Drones hit two ships off Bulgaria's coast, search and rescue ongoing as one sank
Drones hit two ships off Bulgaria's coast and one of them sank, with the crew missing, the day after another drone attack sank a ship near Romania's shore in the Black Sea, in two consecutive drone attacks on NATO's Eastern flank countries.
A massive search is under way in the Black Sea for the crew of a cargo ship that sank after drones struck two commercial vessels off Bulgaria's coast early Tuesday, the day after another drone attack sank a Turkish grain ship off the coast of Romania, killing 2 crew members.
Sea and aerial drones hit the ships at about 3am local time (2am CET), around 70 nautical miles east of the town of Byala in Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone, Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev said.
The crew of the Bulgarian ferry Dioscuria, which was in the area, saw an explosion on the first ship and rushed to the scene, Radev confirmed. They found an overturned lifeboat and life jackets but no one from the crew.
Officials have not said how many people were on board, nor the origin of the drones.
A second ship was attacked and caught fire, with all 18 of its crew rescued by the Dioscuria. Eleven are Turkish and seven Indian, according to the televised address from Radev.
Two of them were hospitalised, one with burns and one with a head injury. The other 16 were being brought ashore on a Border Police patrol boat.
Radev said two helicopters were sent to Varna to pick up rescue teams and a Su-25 aircraft was deployed to carry out aerial reconnaissance over the area. The operation is being run by the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre.
Both vessels sent distress signals during the night and one disappeared from Border Police radar at about 9am local time (8am CET), public broadcaster BNR reported.
Bulgarian shipping news site Maritime.bg named the sunken ship as the Alfa Watan and the second as the Palau-flagged Able. It said the strikes were the first attack on shipping in Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone.
Both vessels are Turkish-owned, according to the Equasis merchant shipping database.
Ship tracking website vesselfinder.com shows the Alfa Watan was sailing under the flag of Togo and was headed for the Romanian port of Sulina.
The second ship was carrying wheat and sailing south, Radev said. The cargo of the sunken Alfa Watan is not yet known.
Radev, who called the attack "absolutely unacceptable", did not say who launched the drones, while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the developments "concerning".
Three attacks on civilian shipping in the Black Sea within two days
Tuesday's attack occurred the day after a Turkish-owned cargo ship carrying grain from Ukraine to Italy was attacked off Romania's coast in the Black Sea by at least one drone and sank after catching fire, killing two crew members.
Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry said the ship's captain, Azerbaijani national Rustam Ismayil oglu Hasanov, died and his body was being repatriated. A second Azerbaijani crew member, Mahammad Hamza oglu Suleymanzade, is still missing and the search and rescue operation is ongoing. Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry said their families were informed and they were receiving logistical and financial support.
11 other crew members were rescued by the Romanian authorities. Three Azerbaijani sailors and one Indian crew member among them are receiving emergency medical care in Romania.
Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry explicitly reiterated its urgent warning to Azerbaijani citizens to refrain from travelling to active conflict zones, working in high-risk areas, or taking employment on transport vessels operating along contested maritime corridors.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blamed Russia for yesterday's sinking of the cargo ship and called it "a horrific strike by two Russian drones on a civilian vessel" in neutral waters.
India condemned Tuesday's attack as part of the crew members were Indian nationals. The Indian Foreign Ministry released a statement saying that "India views these attacks on commercial shipping and seafarers with grave concern," adding that "the targeting of traffic in international waterways is severely undermining global commerce and welfare of people across the world."
Bulgarian PM says drone attack on two ships is 'flagrant' breach of maritime law
The EU pledged "full solidarity" with its eastern members as the search went on for the sunken vessel's crew, and no one has yet been blamed for the strikes.
Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev has condemned a drone attack on two commercial ships in the Black Sea that sank one of them, calling it "a flagrant violation of maritime law"
"Such an attack within the Bulgarian exclusive economic zone is absolutely unacceptable," he told reporters on Tuesday at the start of an emergency government meeting on the strikes.
Sea and aerial drones hit the vessels at about 3am local time (2am CET), around 70 nautical miles east of the town of Byala according to Radev, the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency (BTA) reported. He did not say who was behind the attack.
Radev warned that unless the war in Ukraine is brought to an end, it will keep widening its reach and raising the risks, including that of a global conflict.
"The situation significantly complicates navigation in the Black Sea, drives up insurance premiums, and makes maritime traffic extremely difficult," Radev said.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said attacks on civilian shipping were "unacceptable" and that the EU stood "in full solidarity with our member states on the eastern flank".
"The situation in the Black Sea is increasingly concerning. Commercial ships – and innocent crews – are being targeted, with lives already lost at sea," she wrote on X.
The crew of the sunken ship are still missing and the search for survivors is continuing. Radev said the state's priority was to protect lives regardless of who was sailing in Bulgaria's economic zone.
The Bulgarian prime minister also addressed the Emil, a cargo ship attacked by Russian drones in August and now drifting towards Bulgaria's waters. Moscow confirmed the strike, claiming that the ship was carrying military equipment for Ukraine.
"We will not in any way allow the Bulgarian coast to be threatened," Radev said.
The emergency meeting brought together the defence, interior, transport and environment ministries, the presidency and the security services.
The attack came a day after a Turkish-owned cargo ship carrying grain in the Black Sea was hit by at least one drone and sank after catching fire.
