# Drones Hit Two Merchant Ships off Bulgaria, Sinking One and Forcing Crew Evacuations

*Tuesday, October 13, 2026 at 8:07 AM UTC — Hamer Intelligence Services Desk*

**Published**: 2026-10-13T08:07:28.219Z (3h ago)
**Category**: conflict | **Region**: Eastern Europe
**Importance**: 9/10
**Sources**: OSINT
**Permalink**: https://hamerintel.com/data/articles/20440.md
**Source**: https://hamerintel.com/summaries

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**Deck**: Two commercial ships were struck by drones just outside Bulgarian waters on 13 October, sinking one vessel and damaging another. The attacks pushed the war’s risks into busy Black Sea shipping lanes near an EU coast and prompted Bulgaria to summon Russia’s ambassador.

Two merchant crews in the western Black Sea were forced to abandon their ships in the middle of the night after drone strikes close to Bulgaria’s shoreline.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev said two commercial vessels were hit by drones about 24 kilometers off Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast on 13 October. One ship sank, while the second was left damaged. The ships’ origins, their cargo and who launched the drones remain unknown, Radev said.

Bulgarian media and maritime tracking data identified the damaged vessel as the Malta‑flagged dry cargo ship CHELSEA 3, sailing from Turkey toward Moldova, and the sunken vessel as the Turkish‑owned AZOV CONCORD, which went down around 17 nautical miles east of the village of Krapets.

BGNews reported that CHELSEA 3 was struck by three aerial drones roughly 18 nautical miles east of the coastal town of Byala. The strikes hit the ship’s side and deck. All 15 crew members – seven Ukrainians and eight Azerbaijanis – were evacuated, with five initially reported lightly injured. On AZOV CONCORD, Bulgarian authorities said one crew member was rescued after the vessel began sinking. Officials have not released a full casualty count for that ship.

Radev said Bulgaria has summoned the Russian ambassador to discuss the incident. Local reports said Sofia also intends to raise the issue with allied partners. The strikes occurred just outside Bulgarian territorial waters, in an area used heavily by regional shipping.

For seafarers, a routine coastal transit has become a hazard zone where uncrewed aircraft can appear without warning. Crews on ships flagged in Malta, owned in Turkey or Ukraine, and crewed by Ukrainians and Azerbaijanis now face not only storms and navigation risks but deliberate attacks by an operator that has not yet been publicly identified.

For shipowners and insurers, drone strikes this close to an EU coastline raise operational and legal pressure. Underwriters will have to decide how to price voyages along Bulgaria’s shoreline and toward Romanian and Ukrainian ports. Cargo owners moving goods through ports such as Constanța, Varna or Odesa may consider diversions or delays, pushing up transport costs through Central and Southeastern Europe.

The political reaction has spread beyond Bulgaria. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the Black Sea has become “another front” in Russia’s war against Ukraine, condemning drone attacks on merchant ships near Bulgaria’s coast and calling for those responsible to be held accountable.

Although ships have been hit before near Ukrainian ports and closer to Crimea, drones striking vessels near Bulgaria bring the threat into waters used by allied states. Governments will now have to decide how far attacks can move toward their shores before they ask for tighter naval and air patrols.

Black Sea trade does not need a formal blockade to suffer. A few unexplained strikes are enough to make captains, insurers and commodity traders hesitate.

Signals to watch include whether Bulgaria or other coastal states request expanded maritime surveillance, whether Sofia or Brussels publicly attribute the drones to a specific actor, and any visible change in insurance premiums or routing for ships using this part of the Black Sea.