Drones hit container ship off Bulgaria as defense ministers meet in Sofia

The strike off Shabla

Three maritime drones hit the Liberian-flagged container ship Contship Jet on Wednesday, 28 October, shortly before 1 p.m. local time. The vessel lay roughly 21 nautical miles to the southeast of Shabla, close to Cape Kaliakra in the northeast of the country, Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov said. The ship had sailed from the Israeli port of Haifa and was bound for Constanța in Romania. Stoyanov gave the details to reporters while a regional security meeting was under way. It was not clear who carried out the attack.

Crew evacuated, ship damaged

All 18 crew members left the ship on life rafts, and a tanker passing nearby was diverted to help with the rescue. Fishermen in the area reported that a fire broke out on board immediately after the strike and that the vessel listed heavily to the right. At 12:43, Bulgarian National Radio reported that some crew were on a raft close to the ship when another drone was heading toward them. The Greek company that manages the vessel said all 18 crew were safe and that the ship was carrying 700 containers. Bulgarian authorities had not said what cargo was aboard or whether any dangerous goods were on board.

Talks in Sofia

The strike came during a trilateral meeting of defense ministers from Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey, held in Sofia to discuss security in the Black Sea. Stoyanov informed the other delegations about the attack during the working session. Romania's defense minister, Ștefan-Radu Oprea, and Turkey's defense minister, Yaşar Güler, attended, alongside the armed forces commanders of all three countries. The ministers then adopted a joint statement calling for an immediate end to attacks on commercial ships, which it described as a dangerous escalation of tensions.

A string of attacks

Counts of recent attacks differ. One Romanian report called the Contship Jet the ninth drone strike on a merchant ship in the Black Sea, while other reports counted it as the fifth commercial ship hit this month off Bulgaria's coast. Another tally puts at least six merchant vessels attacked off Bulgaria. In early October, two commercial ships were attacked in Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone. Later in October, the Guinea-Bissau-flagged HS Dignity sank after being struck about 17 nautical miles east of Shabla, and the Malta-flagged Chelsea 3 was damaged in a separate attack about 17 nautical miles east of Byala. Casualty figures also vary: one count gives two dead and at least 25 still missing across the Bulgarian and Romanian exclusive economic zones, while another says about two dozen international seafarers have been killed in drone attacks off Bulgaria.

Responsibility and background

Russia has not claimed the attacks, and Ukraine has blamed Moscow, which denies involvement. Radev told parliament in October that the reasoning pointed toward Moscow, but he acknowledged the lack of proof.

“The problem is that we cannot prove it.”

On 15 October, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte wrote on X that the alliance had bolstered its eastern flank, including with more counter-drone capability, as strikes on merchant ships became more frequent. The wider war adds context. Russian strikes have repeatedly hit Ukraine's Black Sea and Danube ports, pushing Kyiv to lean on alternative routes for grain exports to Africa and the Middle East, and Russian drones have repeatedly breached Romanian airspace near some of those Danube ports. Bulgaria, which is both an EU and a NATO member, has sought allied help to bolster maritime security in the region.