Drone strikes hit two cargo ships in Bulgaria's Black Sea zone; one sinks, crew missing

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In the early hours of Tuesday, around 4:00 a.m. local time, sea and air drones struck two general cargo vessels about 80 nautical miles east of the coastal town of Byala, Bulgaria.

The Togo-flagged Alfa Watan suffered critical structural damage and sank. Rescuers found overturned life rafts and life jackets near the wreck, but the crew remains missing, and Bulgarian authorities launched a major search operation.

The second vessel, the Palau-flagged Able, was carrying wheat and caught fire after the attack. A Bulgarian ferry and a navy fast boat rescued all 18 crew members; two sailors were seriously injured, one with burns and one with a head injury, and were flown to a hospital in Varna. Eleven of the rescued crew are Turkish and seven are Indian.

Radev said the attack "constitutes a flagrant violation of maritime law" and convened an emergency meeting. Authorities are monitoring for possible oil spills. The origin of the drones has not been established.

The strikes came a day after another commercial ship caught fire and sank off the Romanian coast, killing two people. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described that attack as a horrific strike by two Russian drones on a civilian vessel in neutral waters.

Radev said the attacks are seriously disrupting Black Sea shipping, driving insurance costs even higher and making maritime operations extremely difficult, adding that the incidents would not trigger NATO's collective-response clauses.