Drones sink one vessel and ignite another off Bulgaria

Bulgarian officials said drones hit two merchant ships in Bulgaria’s Black Sea economic zone on October 6, causing the Togo-flagged Alfa Watan to sink and igniting the Palau-flagged Able. Authorities searched for the Alfa Watan’s missing crew, while a Bulgarian ferry evacuated all 18 people aboard the Able.¹²³⁶

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Search after one vessel sinks

The Alfa Watan suffered severe structural damage and went down at the scene. Bulgarian authorities began search-and-rescue operations about 70 nautical miles east of Byala, where a ferry found overturned life rafts and life jackets but no members of the ship’s crew. Officials were also watching for oil spills or other pollution.¹³

The Alfa Watan was sailing north when it was struck, AFP reported. It was a general cargo vessel flying the flag of Togo, but its cargo was not disclosed. The available reports did not establish how many people had been aboard or confirm their fate.¹⁴⁵

The Able caught fire after the second strike. A Bulgarian ferry evacuated its full crew of 18 Indian and Turkish nationals. Two sailors with severe injuries were flown to a hospital in the Bulgarian port city of Varna; AFP reported that one had burns and the other a head injury.¹²³⁶

The Palau-flagged Able was carrying wheat and travelling south, according to AFP. Both ships sent distress signals, the Independent reported, citing information from the British maritime risk management group Vanguard.¹⁴

Responsibility not established

Bulgarian officials had not determined the drones’ origin or assigned responsibility for the strikes. An unnamed maritime-security source assessed that Russian involvement was probable, according to the Independent, but that assessment was not an official finding. Russia did not immediately comment.³⁴⁵⁶

Prime Minister Rumen Radev of Bulgaria called an urgent meeting of multiple institutions and denounced the strike. He said Bulgaria was required to undertake rescue operations for anyone navigating within its economic zone, regardless of who was responsible.³⁷

Radev said the incidents breached maritime and international law and were making Black Sea navigation more difficult while increasing insurance costs. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also condemned attacks on commercial shipping while noting that the precise circumstances were still being established.¹³⁴⁵

Status of the waters

The strikes took place in Bulgaria’s Exclusive Economic Zone rather than within its 12-nautical-mile territorial sea, according to an analysis by Diplomacy & Law. The outlet noted that an economic zone is not sovereign Bulgarian territory and argued that NATO’s collective-defence provision would not apply automatically to attacks there against vessels registered in Togo and Palau.⁷

AFP reported that both vessels were Turkish-owned and described the episode as the first such incident off Bulgaria. The agency said at least 45 merchant vessels had been attacked during the previous 12 months in Black Sea areas not previously considered high-risk, compared with no recorded strikes there during the preceding 12 months. It also reported that 226 civilian and commercial vessels had been attacked in the Black Sea since the war began.¹