Drones Strike Two Ships Off Bulgaria's Black Sea Coast, One Sinks — 11 Sailors Missing as NATO Member Calls for Help

Two commercial ships were struck by drones in the Black Sea off Bulgaria overnight; one sank, and 11 sailors are missing at sea. Bulgaria's prime minister called the attacks "absolutely unacceptable" and said Sofia is seeking help from NATO and the European Union — the second such attack near NATO waters in a week.

What happened overnight off Bulgaria

According to Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev, the first distress call came at around 1:30 a.m. local time on Tuesday (22:30 GMT on Monday). The Maltese-flagged cargo ship Chelsea 3, a Ukrainian-owned, Odesa-registered general cargo vessel, reported that it had been hit by three aerial drones on its deck and hull about 18 nautical miles (33 km) east of the coastal town of Byala, the Associated Press and Reuters reported.

The 136-metre ship had been sailing from Giresun in Türkiye towards Giurgiulesti in Moldova. Border police evacuated all 15 crew members — seven Ukrainians and eight Azerbaijanis — to Varna; five were treated for minor injuries, Radev said.

A second vessel was struck about 17 nautical miles east of Krapets and sank. Bulgarian media identified the sunken ship as the cargo vessel Azov Concord. Radev said one crew member from the sunken vessel had been rescued but gave no further details. Reuters, citing Bulgarian officials, later reported that five crew members had been rescued and 11 were still listed as missing, with search operations continuing at sea.

Bulgaria's response: "absolutely unacceptable"

Speaking after an emergency meeting of Bulgaria's Security Council on Tuesday, Radev described the attacks as "absolutely unacceptable" and said Bulgaria had informed its permanent representatives to NATO and the European Union. Sofia is seeking help to strengthen air and maritime surveillance. Radev said he was due to speak with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and would summon Russia's ambassador on Tuesday.

Bulgarian authorities have not established who was responsible. Radev said there was no clear evidence to attribute blame to either side, but argued that "the logic suggests that the outcome benefits the Russian Federation." European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen condemned the attacks, saying the Black Sea had become "another front of escalation of the Russian war in Ukraine". Ukraine's foreign minister, Andriy Sybiha, blamed Russia, calling the strikes a deliberate disregard for civilian lives and maritime security.

A pattern, not an isolated attack

The overnight strikes came exactly a week after sea and aerial drones struck two other commercial vessels in Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea. In that earlier incident, a Togo-flagged ship sank — nine Syrian sailors and one Egyptian were lost at sea, according to Channel News Asia — while a Bulgarian ferry evacuated the 18-member crew from a Palau-flagged vessel that caught fire.

A day earlier, a Turkish-owned corn carrier caught fire after a drone attack and later sank off Romania; two people died and 11 crew were rescued, Romanian authorities said.

Why the Black Sea matters

Bulgaria does not border either Ukraine or Russia, but as a NATO member it holds a strategic position on the Black Sea, where both countries have major ports. More than four years into the war Moscow launched with its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Black Sea shipping has increasingly been drawn into a prolonged battle of economic endurance.

Ukraine and Russia are both among the world's largest grain exporters. Russia has bombed Ukraine's Black Sea ports, pushing Ukrainian exports toward Danube river ports and shipping routes close to NATO members Bulgaria and Romania, while Ukraine has increasingly targeted Russian grain ships elsewhere in the Black Sea and the Azov Sea. Each new attack raises insurance costs, reroutes trade, and puts civilian crews — often from third countries — in the line of fire.

What happens next

The immediate priorities are the search for the missing sailors, securing the affected stretch of sea, and preserving evidence about the drones used. Attribution remains open: until investigators establish who launched the drones, the competing claims from Sofia, Kyiv and Moscow remain claims. What is already clear is that commercial shipping off a NATO coastline has now been hit twice in eight days, and Bulgaria is asking its allies for help watching its waters.

Sources

• Al Jazeera — Drone attack sinks ship off Bulgaria's Black Sea coast, PM says
• Channel News Asia (Reuters) — Eleven sailors missing after drone sinks ship off Bulgaria
• Kyiv Independent — 'Absolutely unacceptable': Commercial vessels hit by drones near Bulgaria's Black Sea coast
• The Business Standard (UNB/AP) — Drone attacks hit two ships in Black Sea off Bulgaria, sinking one
• Gulf News — Two ships hit by drones in Black Sea near Bulgaria, Russia blamed for escalation

Photo (file photo): Cargo ship Silva, 1950, by Erkki Voutilainen, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0).