Two commercial ships were struck by drones on Tuesday in Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone. The crew from a Bulgarian ferry rescued 18 crew members from a ship, while the second maritime vessel sank off the coast, near the city of Biala.
The rescue operation took place east of Cape Saint Atanas and the city of Biala, about 80 miles off the coast, according to news.ro. The incident was described as an unprecedented coordinated attack on commercial vessels. It is the first incident of this kind in Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone. A similar incident recently occurred in Romania, resulting in two deaths, writes the cited source.
The ships targeted on Tuesday off the Bulgarian coast are the cargo ship ALFA WATAN, under the Togo flag, and the general cargo ship ABLE, under the Palau flag, specifies the press from Sofia.
The ship ALFA WATAN suffered severe structural damage and sank east of the Bulgarian coast. Currently, there are no official information regarding the fate of its crew or if there were any survivors.
The second ship, the vessel ABLE, caught fire as a result of the attack. The crew had to abandon it. The injured people received medical aid and efforts are being made to transport them to the hospital.
The investigation is set to determine who is to blame for the incident.
It is not yet clear who is responsible, and the Government has refused to comment on the incident. President Rumen Radev has convened a meeting with key ministries and security services.