Greek tanker sinks following maritime drone attack off Bulgarian coast

Euronews has obtained unseen images of a Greek-managed tanker sinking in the Black Sea after being hit by maritime drones on 28 October. The Liberian-flagged vessel, named Contship Jet, was travelling from Haifa in Israel to Constanța in Romania when it was struck by three sea drones off the coast of Bulgaria. Russia is suspected of being behind the incident. [1]

All 18 crew members aboard the vessel, comprising 14 Filipinos and four Ukrainians, were rescued. Bulgarian naval and border police vessels retrieved the crew and transported them to the port city of Varna for medical examinations. The Military District Prosecutor's Office in Bulgaria has launched a preliminary investigation into the strike. [1]

The strike marks the fifth drone attack recorded in the exclusive economic zone of Bulgaria during the past month. As FTMQ News reported earlier, two vessels were targeted by drones roughly 24 kilometres off the Bulgarian coast in October, causing one ship to sink and prompting Bulgarian authorities to step up Black Sea surveillance. [1][5][6]

During those earlier October attacks, Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev blamed Russia for the strikes. Bulgaria previously requested assistance from the European Union and NATO to investigate the ongoing maritime incidents within its waters. [5][6]