Container ship bound for Constanța hit by three naval drones off Bulgaria's Black Sea coast
Three naval drones struck the Liberian-flagged container ship Contship Jet in the Black Sea on Wednesday, about 21 nautical miles southeast of the Bulgarian town of Shabla, Bulgaria's defence minister said. The ship was sailing from Haifa to Constanța, and its crew left the vessel. The attack came as the defence ministers of Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey were meeting in Sofia.
A commercial container ship heading for the Romanian port of Constanța was struck by three naval drones in the Black Sea on Wednesday, 28 October, off the coast of north-eastern Bulgaria. Bulgarian Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov announced the attack at a press conference in Sofia, saying it happened about 21 nautical miles southeast of the coastal town of Shabla, near Cape Kaliakra.
The vessel is the Contship Jet, a Liberian-flagged container ship (IMO 9348625) that had left the Israeli port of Haifa, according to Bulgarian National Radio. AP reported that it was hit a little before 1 p.m. local time. The crew abandoned the ship and took to life rafts, a tanker was sent to help, and there were no immediate reports of casualties. Bulgarian radio also said a drone was seen moving towards the sailors on the water, putting them at risk. The extent of the damage was not known.
Nobody has claimed the attack, and Bulgarian officials have not said who was behind it. Stoyanov said the ship was hit in Bulgaria's contiguous zone, the strip of sea just beyond its territorial waters.
The strike came while Stoyanov was hosting an emergency trilateral meeting with Romanian Defence Minister Radu Oprea, Turkish Defence Minister Yaşar Güler and the three countries' chiefs of defence, called at short notice because of the worsening security situation in the Black Sea. "While this meeting was underway, a container ship was struck by three naval drones," Stoyanov told reporters.
Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey, all NATO members, adopted a joint statement condemning drone attacks on commercial vessels as a dangerous escalation and calling for them to stop immediately. The three countries agreed to set up a trilateral coordination mechanism for the Black Sea, with regular consultations, information sharing and further practical steps. "Risks are increasing with each passing day; we must have an adequate response," Stoyanov said.
Romania's Ministry of Defence said Oprea strongly condemned the recent attacks on commercial shipping, describing them as a substantial escalation of the risks tied to Russia's war against Ukraine, and stressed the need to protect freedom of navigation and civilian ships. He also highlighted continued cooperation in MCM Black Sea, the joint Romanian, Bulgarian and Turkish mine-clearing initiative.
The attack is the latest in a series of aerial and sea-drone strikes on merchant ships near the Bulgarian and Romanian coasts this month. Bulgarian maritime outlet Maritime.bg has reported several vessels sunk or damaged in recent weeks.