The Greek-owned Contship Jet, chartered to Zim, sank about 12 hours after being struck by three maritime drones in Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone. All 18 crew members were rescued. Defence ministers of Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey later condemned the strikes and agreed on closer coordination.
The Greek-owned containership Contship Jet, operating under charter to Zim, sank around midnight on October 29, approximately 12 hours after being attacked, according to Bulgarian officials. The ship was travelling from Haifa, Israel to Constanța, Romania when it was struck by three maritime drones. It was sailing under the Liberian flag, according to Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov.
Stoyanov put the ship about 21 nautical miles southeast of Shabla, outside Bulgarian territorial waters but inside its exclusive economic zone. Reports said the ship's manifest showed it was carrying lithium-ion batteries, corrosive liquids, acids and other industrial components.
All 18 crew members, 14 Filipinos and four Ukrainians, were rescued by Bulgarian naval and border police vessels and taken to Varna for medical checks. They survived uninjured and abandoned ship at 12:13, after the alert reached Bulgaria at 12:01 p.m. local time. Bulgaria's transport ministry and a company official said the crew were evacuated and safe ashore.
A French maritime patrol plane spotted the drone boats and warned the Bulgarian Navy's operations center, according to the Bulgarian Defense Ministry. Radev said, per Bulgarian media, that the French crew had the drones in sight at least half an hour before the strike.
According to BTA, the Contship Jet was the fifth merchant ship hit by drones in Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone since early October. The incident was the fifth drone attack recorded in that zone in October. It is at least the fifth commercial ship attacked there in recent weeks.
Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey denounced the continuing attacks and said they were aligning efforts to increase security in the Black Sea region. Their defence ministers met in Sofia, condemned the strikes on Black Sea vessels and called for an immediate cessation of attacks. They also agreed on stronger intelligence sharing, early warning and coordination.
