Overview
- Sea- and air-drones attacked two merchant vessels about 70 nautical miles east of Byala on Tuesday, severely damaging the Togo-flagged Alfa Watan which later sank and setting the Palau-flagged Able on fire.
- Rescue teams found lifejackets and an overturned lifeboat at the scene but recovered no crew from the sunken Alfa Watan, and officials have stopped search-and-rescue operations.
- The Able's full 18-person crew was taken to safety with two crew members seriously injured and treated in Varna hospitals.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blamed Russia for the strikes while Bulgarian authorities say they have not yet established who launched the drones.
- The incident raises pollution and shipping-safety concerns in the Black Sea and fits a pattern of attacks on civilian vessels since 2022, with industry records reporting hundreds of similar incidents.