Overview
- Bulgarian media report that two commercial vessels were hit by drones near the Bulgarian coast and that one ship, ALFA WATAN, sank while rescue operations continue.
- The second vessel, ABLE, flew Palau’s flag and had 18 crew members rescued with some wounded according to local reports.
- Both ships were operating inside Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone, not its territorial waters, and Prime Minister Rumen Radev convened an emergency meeting to coordinate the response.
- No official comment has come from Russia or Ukraine about the latest strikes, though the incidents follow a recent pattern of drone attacks on Black Sea shipping that have produced deaths and injuries.
- The attacks raise practical and legal questions about protection and liability for ships flying flags of convenience and increase the risk of wider disruptions to grain and other trade through the Black Sea.