Drone Attack on Container Ship Near Bulgaria: All Crew Safe
Another merchant ship has been attacked in the western Black Sea. The container ship Contship Jet was struck around midday on 28 October about 17 miles east of Cape Kaliakra, near the Bulgarian port of Varna. Reports say three drones hit the vessel, starting a fire and leaving it with a heavy list. Cape Kaliakra is a rocky headland on Bulgaria’s north-eastern Black Sea coast, north-east of Varna.
The Bulgarian Navy led the rescue with three of its vessels and a Border Police boat. Eight seafarers were lifted off the ship and ten more were found in a lifeboat. All 18 crew, 14 Filipinos and four Ukrainians, were reported in good health and taken to Varna. A French maritime patrol aircraft helped by passing information to the Navy’s operations centre.
The 2007-built, Liberian-flagged ship of about 1,276 TEU is managed from Greece and was carrying around 421 containers on a regular service linking the Eastern Mediterranean with Romania and Bulgaria.
The strike came while defence and security ministers from Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey were meeting in Sofia. They called for an end to attacks on commercial ships and agreed to share intelligence and improve early warning. According to Maritime Executive, Contship Jet is the ninth ship hit in the western Black Sea since early October, and Reuters reports 34 sailors killed or missing in these attacks.
Meanwhile, the Comoros-flagged Khoryv, struck on 23 October, has capsized and is drifting towards Bulgarian waters. One of its crew died and three remain missing. Bulgarian authorities have told ships to keep at least half a nautical mile away from the wreck.
Crews heading to Black Sea ports should check the latest security advice, know their rights under warlike-area agreements, and keep abandon-ship drills sharp.
