A Greek managed container ship has sunk after being hit by naval drones off Bulgaria, the Bulgarian government said, in the latest of a series of strikes in the western Black Sea this month. The Liberian flagged Contship Jet, loaded with 421 containers, was badly damaged by three sea drones as it passed through Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone, outside its territorial waters, en route from Haifa in Israel to Constanta in Romania, Reuters reported.
The crew of 14 Filipinos and four Ukrainians were all rescued and transferred safely to the Bulgarian port of Varna, the ship’s manager Contships Management said, and Marine Insight reported the Bulgarian Navy’s rescue of the same 18 seafarers. Video footage verified by Reuters showed a sea drone driving alongside the vessel before turning toward its hull, and a separate video showed an explosion that caused the ship to list. The government said initial inspections on Thursday found no visible traces of pollution from the ship, whose cargo included lithium ion batteries, corrosive liquids and acids and industrial components.
Responsibility is not established, and the story does not assign it. Ambrey, a maritime risk firm, assessed from crew footage that the 5 to 6 metre unmanned surface vehicle was likely a variant of, or derived from, the Russian Murena 300S design, its analyst Tomas Alexa told Reuters, adding that its manoeuvres indicated remote control. A former senior Ukrainian navy officer, Andriy Ryzhenko, said the drone did not resemble any Ukrainian naval drone model he knows. Bulgaria’s prime minister Rumen Radev has said some of the month’s attacks appear to benefit Russia, and Moscow has denied involvement in the recent attacks and did not immediately comment on this incident.
The commercial significance is the pattern, not the single hull. At least six ships have been attacked by drones off Bulgaria this month and about two dozen seafarers are feared dead across the series, according to government statements reported by Reuters. Bulgaria, an EU and NATO member, has sought assistance to bolster security off its Black Sea coast, and its naval commander said authorities were alerted to a possible attack by a French patrol aircraft but were unable to prevent it. The same waters carry the region’s grain exports, whose Azov route reopened this week in a separate development covered today.