Eleven sailors remained missing on Tuesday after a drone attack sank a cargo ship off Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast, officials said. Bulgarian authorities identified the vessel as the Guinea-Bissau-flagged HS Dignity. Five crew members were rescued, while search and rescue teams continued looking for the missing sailors near the village of Krapets.
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The overnight attacks also damaged another cargo ship, the Maltese-flagged Chelsea 3. Bulgarian officials said drones struck the vessel three times. All 15 crew members, including seven Ukrainians and eight Azerbaijanis, were rescued without serious injuries. Bulgaria summoned Russia’s ambassador following the incidents but stopped short of directly accusing Moscow of carrying out the attacks.
Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev condemned the incidents, calling the attack near the country’s territorial waters unacceptable. He said the outcome benefited Russia, although Moscow had not issued an immediate response. Russian Ambassador Eleonora Mitrofanova said she lacked information from Russia’s Defence Ministry about attacks on commercial vessels. She also suggested that a third party could have staged a provocation, according to the Bulgarian government.
The attacks drew condemnation from Ukraine and the European Union. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the Black Sea had become another front in the war between Russia and Ukraine. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha also accused Moscow of disregarding civilian lives. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the alliance would adjust its military presence along its eastern flank as necessary.
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The latest sinking follows another deadly incident in the Black Sea a week earlier. Ten sailors, including nine Syrians and one Egyptian, reportedly died after a drone strike sank a ship in Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone. The conflict has increasingly threatened commercial shipping routes used by Russia and Ukraine, two major grain exporters. These attacks have raised fresh concerns about maritime safety and the wider impact of the war on global trade.