Two more ships hit off Bulgaria

Two more merchant ships have come under drone attack off Bulgaria, with one reportedly sunk and rescue operations continuing, as the maritime war spreads across the western Black Sea.

The Maltese-flagged, Ukrainian-owned general cargoship Chelsea 3 was struck by three aerial drones early Tuesday morning, approximately 18 nautical miles east of Byala. All 15 crewmembers, comprising seven Ukrainians and eight Azerbaijanis, were rescued by Bulgarian border police and taken to Varna. Eight were transported to hospital, including three suffering burns.

A second vessel, identified by local maritime media as the St Kitts and Nevis-flagged general cargoship Azov Concord, was reportedly sunk approximately 17 nautical miles east of Krapets.

Bulgarian prime minister Rumen Radev initially announced the sinking, although interior ministry officials subsequently said the vessel’s fate had not been conclusively established. Five seafarers were rescued by passing merchant ships, with the status of the remaining crew still unclear.

Radev condemned the attacks as “absolutely unacceptable”, announcing plans to summon Russia’s ambassador and seek assistance from NATO and the European Union. The Bulgarian leader acknowledged there was insufficient evidence to conclusively identify the attackers, although he suggested the strikes appeared to benefit Russia.

The latest incidents come exactly a week after two other merchant ships were attacked in Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone. Those incidents followed the sinking of the Royad Mammadov off Romania, with two fatalities reported.

The intensifying violence comes amid a broader Russian campaign against Ukrainian port infrastructure and commercial shipping. Earlier this month, Moscow claimed strikes against four cargo vessels in the northwestern Black Sea, while a separate attack on a Liberian-flagged ship at an Odesa region port killed another seafarer.

Black Sea wheat loadings collapsed to 1.6m tonnes in September, down nearly 78% year-on-year, as attacks increasingly disrupt one of the world’s most important grain export regions.

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