Drone attacks hit two merchant ships off Bulgaria, one sunk, as Sofia rules out NATO articles
Two merchant ships were attacked by drones in the Black Sea off Bulgaria’s coast, sinking one vessel and setting the other on fire, Bulgarian media report, while Prime Minister Rumen Radev says the incident doesn’t justify triggering NATO’s Article 4 or 5.
Drone attacks on merchant shipping in the Black Sea have struck close to Bulgaria’s shoreline, sinking one vessel and badly damaging another, even as Sofia moves to limit the incident’s political fallout inside NATO.
Bulgarian outlet BGNEWS reported that drones attacked two commercial ships in the Black Sea near the coast, east of Cape St. Athanasius and the town of Byala. One of the merchant vessels sank, while the other caught fire.
Bulgarian sailors launched a large search‑and‑rescue operation in the area to assist the crews, according to the same reports. There was no immediate public confirmation of the ships’ flags, cargoes, or ownership, and no official attribution of who launched the drones.
Despite the severity of the damage, Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev said Bulgaria sees no grounds to invoke NATO’s Article 4 or Article 5 in connection with the two merchant ships hit in the Black Sea. Article 4 allows any member to call consultations when it feels its security is under threat, while Article 5 deals with collective defense after an armed attack.
Radev pointed to similar incidents in other countries, including Poland, and stressed that NATO had been informed about what happened. His remarks indicate that, for now, Sofia intends to treat the attacks as a serious security and maritime safety problem but not as a trigger for formal Alliance‑wide measures.
For shipowners and crews using the western Black Sea, the implications are direct. A sea lane that was already affected by the war around Ukraine has now seen drones sink and set ablaze unarmed merchant vessels near a NATO and EU coastline.
Bulgaria’s decision not to push for Article 4 consultations or raise the incident under Article 5 keeps the case below NATO’s formal response thresholds. The practical test in the coming days will be whether Sofia steps up its own naval patrols, air surveillance, or coordination with allies to protect commercial traffic in the area, and whether fresh attacks prompt a reassessment of its position.
Sources
- OSINT