Two ships hit by drones off Bulgaria in a week, one sunk and 12 sailors wounded
Two commercial ships have been struck by drones off Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast within a week, with one vessel reported sunk and another, the Malta‑flagged Chelsea 3, damaged and carrying 12 wounded crew. Bulgaria’s prime minister has summoned the Russian ambassador as coastal states weigh the growing risk to merchant traffic in the area.
Back‑to‑back drone strikes on merchant ships off Bulgaria have turned a stretch of the Black Sea into a new hazard zone for commercial crews and coastal governments.
Bulgarian officials say two commercial vessels were hit by drones off the country’s Black Sea shore within a week. According to reporting shared early on 13 October, one ship sank and a second was damaged.
The latest incident involved the Malta‑flagged cargo vessel Chelsea 3. It was struck about 18 miles from the Bulgarian town of Byala while sailing from Turkey toward the Danube. The ship is managed by Odesa‑based Black Sea Shipping Management.
Twelve crew members on board Chelsea 3 were injured. They are citizens of Ukraine and Azerbaijan. There has been no public breakdown of the severity of their wounds. An earlier drone attack roughly 70 kilometers east of Byala damaged another vessel.
In response to the strikes, Bulgaria’s prime minister summoned the Russian ambassador. That move signals Sofia’s concern about the security of its coastal waters amid the wider war in Ukraine. At the same time, responsibility for the specific drone attacks has not been independently confirmed in the available reports.
For ship operators and crews working near Bulgaria, the attacks mean higher personal and commercial risk on routes that had been considered comparatively less exposed. A hit on a Malta‑flagged ship managed from Odesa underscores how closely Black Sea trade ties together European Union ports, Ukrainian businesses, and regional shipping lanes.
If drone strikes on commercial shipping near Bulgaria continue, watch for concrete shifts: changes to routing choices in the western Black Sea, new precautions or advisories from coastal authorities, and any public attribution of the attacks that could trigger diplomatic or legal responses.
Sources
- OSINT