World
in the Black Sea •
Several drones struck two cargo ships in Bulgarian waters. One has sunk
This is not the first time that ships in the Black Sea have come under attack from the air. It is, however, the first time that a ship has sunk. Emergency meeting of the Bulgarian government. Some sources have told ‘Chasa 24’ that the drones were Russian
6 OCT 26
Last updated: 08:24 AM
Translated by AI
Photo by Dmytro Sidanchenko for Getty
Two merchant ships were attacked by drones off the Bulgarian coast in the Black Sea, east of Cape St Anas and the town of Byala, within Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone.
According to reports in 24 Chasa, rescue operations are under way. One of the two ships, the Alfa Watan, has sunk and the crew on board are missing. On the other vessel, the Able, a fire has broken out, but all the sailors managed to abandon ship and are now on board the Bulgarian ferry Dioscuria. Some sources consulted by the Bulgarian newspaper state with certainty that the drones are Russian.
Bulgarian President Iliana Yotova has cancelled all her political engagements for today and will attend the meeting with representatives of the institutions and the army convened by Prime Minister Rumen Radev, who is pro-Russian but has in recent weeks begun to take some steps back towards the EU.
This is not the first drone attack on merchant ships in the Black Sea. The Russian military routinely targets ships entering and leaving the port of Odessa. However, this is the first time a merchant ship has sunk as a result of an attack in the waters of an exclusive economic zone.
On Sunday 4 October, the Romanian and Bulgarian navies and coastguards carried out a joint operation to rescue the merchant vessel Emil, which had been damaged by a drone attack after leaving the Ukrainian port.
Yesterday, however, a Turkish-flagged vessel carrying wheat from Ukraine was struck near the ‘Pescurus’ oil platform in Romania’s exclusive economic zone.