European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen condemned attacks on civilian shipping in the Black Sea on 6 October, after Bulgarian authorities said drones struck two commercial vessels, sinking one and leaving its crew missing.
“While exact circumstances of these incidents are still being established, the developments are very concerning,” she wrote online, according to AFP. She described attacks on civilian shipping as unacceptable.
Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev said aerial and maritime drones had attacked the vessels in the country’s exclusive economic zone, about 70 nautical miles east of the coastal town of Byala, according to a government statement.
Responsibility for the attacks had not been established, the Associated Press reported.
The vessel that sank was the Togo-flagged Alfa Watan, AFP reported, citing the specialist maritime website Maritime.bg. The second vessel, the Palau-flagged Able, caught fire.
Eighteen crew members were rescued from the Able, including 11 Turkish and seven Indian nationals, AFP reported. Two were hospitalised.
Both ships were Turkish-owned, according to the Equasis merchant shipping database cited by AFP.
The Bulgarian government said the ferry Dioscuria saw an explosion and went to the scene. Rescuers found an overturned boat, three rafts and life jackets near the sunken vessel, but the statement reported no survivors found there.
Radev did not specify how many people were missing, AFP reported.
Bulgaria’s navy, air force, border police and maritime administration were involved in the rescue operation, coordinated from Varna, the government said. Authorities were also monitoring for possible marine pollution.
Von der Leyen’s intervention followed another ship sinking off Romania on 5 October. Reuters reported that she warned commercial vessels and their crews were being targeted while the circumstances of the incidents remained under investigation.
Radev convened an emergency meeting to discuss the attacks. Bulgaria’s government said he warned that the incident created additional risks for Black Sea navigation and increased maritime transport costs and insurance risks.
President Iliana Iotova will convene Bulgaria’s Consultative Council on National Security to discuss threats to maritime security and critical infrastructure arising from the war in Ukraine, Bulgarian public broadcaster Radio Bulgaria reported, citing her press office.
