Bulgaria searches for missing crew after drones hit two ships in Black Sea

Bulgaria launches search operation after Togo-flagged Alfa Watan sinks at scene of attack.

A Bulgarian border police vessel carrying crew members from a ship damaged in a drone attack, in Varna, Bulgaria, following a rescue operation after one vessel was sunk and another damaged in the Black Sea off Bulgaria [Petko Momchilov/Reuters]

Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev says drones have hit two commercial vessels, sinking one ship and wounding several people, in what he denounced as an “absolutely unacceptable” attack.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Radev said the ships were attacked by sea drones and aerial drones at about 3am (00:00 GMT), about 70 nautical miles (130km) off Bulgaria’s coast, amid a rise in attacks on Black Sea shipping due to expanding drone attacks related to the Russia-Ukraine war.

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“This is an unacceptable attack in Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone. It is a blatant violation of international law and maritime law,” Radev said.

The Togo-flagged Alfa Watan suffered critical structural damage and sank at the scene. There was no immediate word on the crew’s fate, he said, as Bulgarian authorities launched a major search for the missing crew. Radev did not specify how many people were missing.

The second vessel, the Palau-flagged Able, caught fire after the attack. A Bulgarian ferry and a naval fast boat evacuated all 18 crew members. Two sailors suffered serious injuries and were flown to a hospital in the port city of Varna, Radev said.

The Able was reportedly carrying wheat and sailing south, while the Alfa Watan was heading north. The Alfa Watan’s cargo was unknown, Radev said, adding that authorities were monitoring for possible oil spills and other signs of environmental pollution.

The origin of the drones was not immediately established, but the dual strike came a day after another ship caught fire and sank off the Romanian coast, killing one and leaving one missing, in what Ukraine said was a drone attack launched by Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described that attack as “a horrific strike by two Russian drones on a civilian vessel” in neutral waters.

“What is happening is seriously disrupting shipping in the Black Sea, driving up insurance costs even further and making shipping extremely difficult,” Radev said after an emergency meeting on Tuesday.

Black Sea shipping has been heavily affected by the Russia-Ukraine war in recent months, and Radev warned that the war was expanding geographically and increasing the risk of global conflict.

Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar said Budapest “stands in full solidarity with Bulgaria” after the attack on the two ships.

多哥籍船只“阿尔法·瓦坦”号在袭击现场沉没后，保加利亚展开搜寻行动。

在保加利亚瓦尔纳，一艘保加利亚边防警察船只载着在无人机袭击中受损船只上的船员，此前，在保加利亚黑海附近，一艘船只被击沉，另一艘船只受损，救援行动已经展开。[Petko Momchilov/路透社]

保加利亚总理鲁门·拉德夫表示，无人机袭击了两艘商船，导致一艘船沉没，多人受伤。他谴责这是一起“绝对不可接受的”袭击。

拉德夫周二对记者表示，这些船只于凌晨 3 点左右（格林尼治标准时间 00:00）在保加利亚海岸约 70 海里（130 公里）处遭到海上无人机和空中无人机的袭击。由于与俄罗斯-乌克兰战争相关的无人机袭击不断增加，黑海航运遭受的袭击也在增加。

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拉德夫表示：“这是在保加利亚专属经济区发生的不可接受的袭击。这是对国际法和海洋法的公然违反。”

悬挂多哥国旗的“阿尔法·瓦坦”号货轮遭受严重结构性损坏，当场沉没。他说，目前尚无船员下落的消息，保加利亚当局已展开大规模搜救行动。拉德夫没有透露失踪人数。

第二艘船，悬挂帕劳国旗的“阿贝尔”号，在袭击后起火。一艘保加利亚渡轮和一艘海军快艇疏散了船上全部18名船员。拉德夫说，两名水手受重伤，已被空运至港口城市瓦尔纳的一家医院。

据报道，“艾布尔”号当时载有小麦向南航行，而“阿尔法·瓦坦”号则向北航行。拉德夫表示，“阿尔法·瓦坦”号的货物尚不清楚，并补充说，当局正在密切监测可能发生的漏油事故和其他环境污染迹象。

无人机的来源尚未立即确定，但此次双重袭击发生在另一艘船在罗马尼亚海岸附近起火沉没的第二天，造成一人死亡，一人失踪。乌克兰方面称，这是一起由俄罗斯发动的无人机袭击。

乌克兰总统泽连斯基将那次袭击描述为“两架俄罗斯无人机对中立水域的一艘民用船只发动的可怕袭击”。

拉德夫在周二的紧急会议后表示：“目前的情况严重扰乱了黑海的航运，进一步推高了保险成本，使航运变得极其困难。”

近几个月来，黑海航运受到俄乌战争的严重影响，拉德夫警告说，战争正在地理范围上扩大，加剧了全球冲突的风险。

匈牙利总理彼得·马扎尔在两艘船只遭到袭击后表示，布达佩斯“与保加利亚完全团结一致”。