Bulgaria ends search for crew of drone-sunk Alfa Watan

Bulgaria has called off the search for the crew of a cargo ship that sank after sea and aerial drones attacked it in the Black Sea. No survivors were found. The drones hit two commercial vessels inside Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone, the first such attack on shipping in the NATO member's waters. Bulgaria's Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Centre said the operation for the Togo-flagged Alfa Watan had ended and would not resume. Early information suggests the vessel sank in about three minutes.apnews+2

Rumen Nikolov, who heads rescue operations at Bulgaria's Maritime Administration, said at a briefing in Varna on Wednesday that the search ended at 5 p.m. local time on Tuesday. Rescuers found three life rafts and an overturned lifeboat from the 83-meter ship but no crew members, and he said no trace of the sailors was likely to be found, Euronews reported. Euronews put the missing crew at 10. Other outlets said the number and nationalities of those aboard had not been confirmed.newsofbahrain+1

Two ships hit before dawn

Prime Minister Rumen Radev said the drones struck at about 3 a.m. on Oct. 6, roughly 70 nautical miles east of the town of Byala. The Alfa Watan, which was sailing north, suffered critical structural damage and sank on the spot. The Palau-flagged Able, which was carrying wheat south, caught fire. A Bulgarian ferry and a naval fast boat evacuated all 18 people aboard the Able: 11 Turkish nationals and seven Indians. Two sailors with severe injuries were flown to a hospital in Varna.nbcnews+3

"This is an unacceptable attack in Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone. It is a blatant violation of international law and maritime law," Radev said after an emergency government meeting. He said the source of the drones was still uncertain and that they were "either Ukrainian or Russian," according to The New York Times.aljazeera+2

Kyiv blames Moscow

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine's military had not been operating in the area. "Our Navy contacted its counterparts in Bulgaria, and it has been established that this was a combined Russian attack using maritime and aerial drones," he said. Russian officials did not respond right away, and NATO referred questions to Bulgarian authorities. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the pattern of attacks on civilian vessels unacceptable and said officials were still working to identify who was responsible.arstechnica+3

A widening threat

The attack came a day after a drone strike off Romania's coast set a Turkish-owned cargo ship carrying corn on fire. It later sank, and Romanian authorities said two people died. Three vessels with links to Turkey were hit over the two days. The British maritime risk firm Ambrey recorded more than 210 strikes on commercial ships between July and the end of September.foxnews+2

President Iliana Yotova has called an emergency meeting of Bulgaria's Security Council for Wednesday afternoon to discuss maritime security. Radev warned that the attacks were "driving up insurance costs even further and making shipping extremely difficult."nbcnews