Drones seem to sink one cargo ship and hit another off Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast

Two commercial ships seem to have come under drone attack overnight in Bulgaria’s Black Sea exclusive economic zone, just outside territorial waters, and one of them sank. Prime Minister Rumen Radev announced the incidents on Tuesday, October 13, after an extraordinary Security Council meeting, CE Report reports, quoting Anadolu Agency. Al Jazeera, the BBC, DW, Reuters via gCaptain and CNA, and CE Report all carry his account. Radev called the episode “absolutely unacceptable.” In a televised address quoted by Al Jazeera he said: “Another attack in the immediate vicinity of Bulgarian territorial waters.” Reuters via gCaptain and CNA render a longer version of the same line: “This is absolutely unacceptable — another attack in the immediate vicinity of Bulgarian territorial waters.”

The first distress call, Radev said, came at 1:30 a.m. from a ship about 18 nautical miles east of the town of Byala, prompting the Varna Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre to respond, according to CE Report. That vessel, the Ukrainian-owned Chelsea-3 (also rendered Chelsea 3), sails under a Maltese flag and registers in Odesa, Radev said. Three aerial drones hit it, he said; all 15 crew members — seven Ukrainian citizens and eight Azerbaijani citizens — got rescued and brought to the Port of Varna, and five received medical assistance, CE Report and Al Jazeera report. Reuters and Al Jazeera say none of those injuries counted as serious. Ship-tracking data cited by Reuters via gCaptain show Chelsea-3 had called at Romania’s Tulcea on October 3 and rode at about 72% of full load.

A second vessel came under UAV attack about 17 nautical miles east of the village of Krapets, in Dobrich Province near the Romanian border, and sank, Radev said, per CE Report and the BBC. President Iliana Iotova identified the sunken ship as the Guinea-Bissau-flagged cargo ship HS Dignity and said a search-and-rescue operation continued, Reuters via gCaptain reports. CNA, running a Reuters wire, says Bulgarian media instead identified the vessel as the cargo ship Azov Concord and that its Türkiye-based manager did not immediately comment. Reuters via gCaptain, citing ship-tracking data, says the part-loaded HS Dignity had sailed toward Romania’s Braila after a call at Algeria’s Mostaganem. This desk could not independently confirm either vessel name against a primary registry listing.

The rescued-and-missing tallies for the sunken ship still conflict across officials. Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov said six crew members on the HS Dignity got rescued and 10 others remain missing after the ship sent a distress signal, the BBC reports. Dobrich Regional Governor Ruslan Tomov told media that five sailors from the vessel that sank east of Krapets got rescued while 11 remained missing, CE Report reports; Reuters via gCaptain carries the same 5-rescued / 11-missing split from “Bulgarian officials.” Al Jazeera’s earlier AP/Reuters write-up said Radev reported that “one crew member from the ship that sank was also rescued,” a lower figure that later tallies supersede. DW reports that Radev also confirmed “that no one had been killed,” and a DW caption says Bulgarian police “were able to rescue all affected crew members,” wording that sits against the missing-sailor counts in the BBC, Reuters and CE Report; this desk treats those DW lines as contested against the other outlets and does not treat the missing sailors as confirmed dead.

Radev stopped short of a formal attribution. The BBC quotes him as saying Bulgaria lacked conclusive evidence of blame on “either side,” then: “the logic suggests that the outcome benefits the Russian Federation.” DW renders a longer social-media version: “We lack solid, clear evidence to level accusations against any specific party; however… logic suggests the outcome works to the advantage of the Russian Federation.” CE Report, citing Anadolu Agency, quotes him at the Security Council: “As I have said before, the situation appears to be in Russia’s interest. Therefore, today I will summon Russia’s ambassador to Sofia, Eleonora Mitrofanova.” He met Mitrofanova afterward. Per the Bulgarian government statement carried by Reuters via gCaptain and by CE Report, she said she had no information from Russia’s Defence Ministry about attacks on commercial vessels in the Black Sea and did not rule out a provocation by a third party. Russia’s military has not publicly commented, the BBC reports.

Stoyanov later went further than Radev. After speaking with his Romanian and Turkish counterparts, he told reporters: “Escalation in the Black Sea is steadily increasing,” and: “We see this conflict drawing ever closer to our territorial waters,” the BBC reports. He added: “We assume the drones are Russian,” saying a Ukrainian strike on its own ships would look “illogical,” per the BBC. Radev, in the meeting with Mitrofanova as CE Report summarizes it, likewise argued that it would make no sense for Ukraine to target its own vessels and that the consequences of the attacks served Russia’s interests. Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha blamed Moscow directly. The BBC quotes him: “Russia’s latest attack on commercial vessels near Bulgaria’s territorial waters… once again demonstrates Moscow’s deliberate disregard for civilian lives and maritime security in the Black Sea.” He added, per the BBC and Reuters: “The Black Sea is a lifeline for global food security. Russia is attacking it to weaponise hunger and hold the world hostage.” Reuters via gCaptain carries a shorter cut of the first Sybiha line ending at “civilian lives.”

European and NATO leaders condemned the strikes. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote that “The Black Sea has become another front of escalation of the Russian war in Ukraine,” Al Jazeera and Reuters report; the BBC quotes the “another front of escalation of the Russian war in Ukraine” part, and the BBC and Al Jazeera say she called the situation “unacceptable.” Al Jazeera quotes her further: “This is unacceptable. I strongly condemn the drone attacks on merchant ships near Bulgaria’s coast. Putting the lives of the crew in grave danger and threatening security in the Black Sea,” and: “We stand with Bulgaria and thank its rescuers for their swift response. Those responsible should be held accountable.” After a call with Radev, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said: “Nato will continue to work closely with our allies in the Black Sea,” and: “We have already strengthened our posture along the eastern flank and will continue to monitor the security environment, adjusting our deterrence and defence posture as needed,” the BBC reports; Al Jazeera and CE Report carry closely matching wording with “NATO” capitalized and, in CE Report’s Anadolu rendering, “Allies in the Black Sea region.” European Council President Antonio Costa also condemned attacks on civilian maritime transport and said the Black Sea and Russia’s hybrid attacks would come up at the EU leaders’ summit scheduled for October 15, CE Report reports.

The overnight strikes land a week after a similar pair of attacks. On October 6, drones hit two commercial ships in Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone; the Alfa Watan (also rendered Alfa Watan / ALFA WATAN) sank and all 10 crew, including nine Syrians and one Egyptian, remain unaccounted for or stand presumed dead, the BBC, Al Jazeera and Reuters report. Radev had already asked NATO and the EU for technical help investigating those earlier strikes, the BBC and DW report. On Tuesday he again urged von der Leyen and Rutte to support stronger maritime and airspace surveillance, the Bulgarian government said, per Reuters via gCaptain. Radev also said Bulgaria, though not a party to the war, faces higher shipping and insurance costs and riskier oil deliveries to the Burgas refinery, and that Sofia would start talks with Romania and Türkiye on joint shipping-safety proposals, CE Report reports. The BBC notes that the Dignity and Chelsea-3 sat just outside territorial waters; a few nautical miles farther west, it says, could have raised questions under NATO’s Article 5 — an outlet framing, not a Bulgarian government claim.

Correction · Oct 13, 2026, 3:03 PM PT: An earlier version credited both Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha’s blame of Russia and Ursula von der Leyen’s condemnation to the BBC, Al Jazeera and Reuters. Al Jazeera carries von der Leyen’s remarks but no Sybiha line, so this desk now credits Sybiha to the BBC and Reuters, and von der Leyen to the BBC, Al Jazeera and Reuters. The earlier version also credited von der Leyen’s full “The Black Sea has become…” sentence to the BBC as well; the BBC quotes only the “another front of escalation” part, and the page now says so. The BBC ledger line no longer lists Reuters beside the byline (Reuters supplied the BBC article’s photo). A DW quote that bracketed “confirm[ed]” now quotes DW’s own words only.