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One merchant ship has sunk and its crew is missing after a drone attack in the Black Sea, Bulgarian officials said. A second vessel carrying grain was also hit inside Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone, but its 18 crew members were rescued.
Prime Minister Rumen Radev did not say who was responsible for the attacks, according to Reuters. They came as Russia has intensified strikes in the Black Sea as part of its war against Ukraine.
Moscow had not commented on the latest incident. A day earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of striking a civilian vessel carrying corn.
Air and sea drones were involved in the attacks at about 03:00 (23:00 GMT), roughly 70 miles (112 km) off the coast of the eastern Bulgarian town of Byala, Radev said. The sunken ship was sailing under the flag of Togo.
A Bulgarian vessel was nearby, but its crew found only an overturned boat, rafts and life jackets when they arrived, Radev said. It was not immediately clear how many people had been aboard, and a search operation was launched. The ship’s cargo was also unknown.
Bulgarian sailors rescued all 18 people aboard the second vessel, including two who were injured in a fire on board. Eleven were Turkish nationals and seven were Indian nationals. The ship was carrying grain.
Radev condemned the attacks as “a flagrant violation of maritime law”, telling reporters that an attack inside Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone was “absolutely unacceptable”. The zone covers just over 29,000 sq km (11,197 sq miles), about 6% of the Black Sea.
A separate attack near Odesa on Tuesday killed one crew member and injured seven others, Ukrainian media reported. The vessel was sailing under the flag of the Marshall Islands.
On Sunday, Russia’s defence ministry said it would intensify strikes across Ukraine in response to comments by Zelensky earlier in the week that Kyiv would step up attacks on Russian oil refineries. Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
