Black Sea Drone Strikes Push Bulgarian Ports Toward Isolation

Eleven sailors were missing on October 13 after a drone strike sank the Guinea-Bissau-flagged cargo ship HS Dignity just outside Bulgaria’s territorial waters, the second commercial sinking off the NATO member in seven days.

A second hull, the Maltese-flagged Chelsea 3, was hit five minutes earlier and stayed afloat. Prime Minister Rumen Radev summoned Russia’s ambassador and told her the strikes were already lifting insurance costs and pushing cargo away from Bulgarian ports.

Five Minutes Apart, One Freighter Sinks

The Transport and Communications Ministry timed the first hit at 1:15 a.m. on October 13. Chelsea 3, Ukrainian-owned and registered in Odesa, was 17 nautical miles east of Byala, about 31 km out, when three aerial drones struck its deck and side.

Its 15 crew, seven Ukrainians and eight Azerbaijanis, sent a distress call. The Border Police ship Burgas, with a nine-member crew, went out in rough water at 2:45 a.m., had the sailors aboard by 4:43 a.m., and landed them in Varna at 7:15 a.m. Three men went to the Military Medical Academy hospital with second-degree burns, and one of those three also had a mild head injury.

At 1:20 a.m., five minutes after Chelsea 3 was hit, HS Dignity was struck 17 nautical miles east of Shabla and went down. President Iliana Iotova named the ship. It had been steaming from Mostaganem in Algeria toward Braila in Romania. Chelsea 3 had been going from Giresun in Turkey to Giurgiulesti. The ministry said both were sailing without cargo.

THE NIGHT OF OCTOBER 13

• First hit: Chelsea 3 took three aerial drones at 1:15 a.m., 17 nautical miles east of Byala, and stayed afloat.
• Second hit: HS Dignity was struck at 1:20 a.m., 17 nautical miles east of Shabla, and sank.
• Chelsea 3 crew: All 15 sailors were taken off; three were hospitalized in Varna with second-degree burns.
• Dignity crew: Five of 16 were pulled from the water; 11 remained missing through the night.

Early reports mixed HS Dignity up with Azov Concord, a Saint Kitts and Nevis-flagged merchant ship that was in the area as a rescuer, not as a target. Azov Concord took four Dignity sailors aboard. The Danish-flagged Skandi Asserter picked up the fifth. Varna Regional Governor Mario Smarkov said four of those five, three Syrians and one Egyptian, reached Varna that evening in good condition, with no injuries. The fifth was still inbound on a navy tug.

Alfa Watan’s Crew Was Written Off on October 7

The October 13 strikes were the second pair in seven days inside Bulgaria’s Black Sea exclusive economic zone. At about 3 a.m. on October 6, sea drones and aerial drones hit two cargo ships some 70 nautical miles, about 130 km, east of Byala.

The Togo-flagged Alfa Watan took structural damage and sank. A Palau-flagged ship, Able, caught fire. A Bulgarian ferry and a naval boat took off Able’s 18 crew. Two of those sailors were badly hurt, one with burns and one with a head injury, and were flown to Varna. Alfa Watan’s 10 sailors, nine Syrians and one Egyptian, were not found.

Vice-Admiral Rumen Nikolov of the Maritime Administration halted the search on October 7. Teams had an overturned boat, three life rafts and pieces of gear, and no people. “There are no traces of the sailors from the first ship, and there will be none,” he told reporters. There was also no drone wreckage to identify.

FOUR SHIPS HIT OFF BULGARIA IN SEVEN DAYS

Radev said after the October 6 hits that the cargoes and the directions of travel argued in Russia’s favour, and that Sofia still lacked evidence to name a culprit. Able had been carrying wheat south. Alfa Watan had been heading north. Russia’s embassy in Sofia said Alfa Watan was not among targets hit by Russian drones. Ukraine denied operating in that stretch of sea.

Syrian, Egyptian and Azerbaijani Crews Took the Hits

The war these sailors were hired into is not the one on their papers. HS Dignity’s 16-person crew was described by the Interior Ministry as Syrian and Egyptian nationals on a Guinea-Bissau flag, on a general-cargo run from Algeria to Romania. Alfa Watan’s missing 10 were nine Syrians and one Egyptian on a Togo flag. Chelsea 3’s 15 were Ukrainians and Azerbaijanis on a Maltese flag, on a Ukrainian-owned hull registered in Odesa.

Across the two sinkings, 21 sailors have been listed missing. The men pulled alive off Chelsea 3 and Able were working the same cheap-flag trades. Interior Ministry Secretary General Lyubomir Nikolov said the Chelsea 3 rescue ran in heavy seas. Dignity’s survivors came in later, delayed by wind and swell, and were given dry clothes and rooms in Varna.

The argument that started online within hours, over which navy first turned merchant hulls into targets elsewhere in the Black Sea, does not change that roster. These four ships were not warships. Two of them, on the ministry’s account, were empty.

How Close Were the Strikes to Bulgarian Waters?

The October 13 hits sat just outside Bulgaria’s territorial waters, the state news wrap-up said, 17 nautical miles off Byala and off Shabla. That is a long step inshore from the October 6 pair, which went in about 70 nautical miles out. Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov, after calls with his Romanian and Turkish counterparts, said the conflict was drawing closer to territorial waters.

“We assume the drones are Russian,” Stoyanov said, because it would have been “illogical” for Ukraine to strike its own ships. Chelsea 3 is Ukrainian-owned. HS Dignity is not. The inshore move still leaves the attacks in the exclusive economic zone, not in the belt where an armed attack on Bulgaria itself would be unambiguous.

Iotova told Bulgarian National Television that Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey had lined up a joint call for a moratorium on drone attacks against commercial and civilian infrastructure in the Black Sea, and for a halt to fighting there. She wanted Black Sea security as its own item at the European Council meeting on October 15 and 16, and she expected a regional meeting within 10 days of October 13. She also said Bulgaria would take the attacks to the United Nations Security Council.

Insurers and Oil Cargoes Are Already Backing Off

Radev used the ambassador meeting to talk about money, not only drones. He said Bulgaria is not a party to the war and is already paying for it in shipping risk, premiums and refused cargoes, including oil into the Burgas refinery.

Although Bulgaria is not a party to the war, it is suffering significant economic and financial damage. The attacks in the Black Sea have already led to an increased risk to merchant shipping, a rise in insurance premiums and even a refusal to transport cargo to Bulgarian ports. This also makes oil supplies to the Burgas refinery more expensive and jeopardizes them.

Rumen Radev, Prime Minister of Bulgaria, meeting with the Russian ambassador, October 13, 2026

Assen Vassilev, chair of Continue the Change, told reporters at the National Assembly that after the two attacks, “normal shipping in the Black Sea will no longer be possible,” with knock-ons for imports and exports, including oil into Neftochim and shipments of grain and base metals. He wanted an immediate check of fuel reserves and direct talks on whether crude cargoes for Lukoil had been cancelled, and whether any remaining loads would need a military escort in territorial waters.

WHAT RADEV SAID THE STRIKES HAVE ALREADY COST

• Insurance: Premiums on merchant shipping in the Black Sea have risen, he told the ambassador.
• Cargo: Some carriers are already refusing loads bound for Bulgarian ports.
• Oil: Deliveries to the Burgas refinery have become more expensive and, he said, are now at risk.

He said Bulgaria would open talks with Romania and Turkey on joint ideas to keep shipping safe. He spoke with Romanian Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan. Stoyanov spoke with the Romanian and Turkish defence ministers about sharing intelligence, watching the sea and coordinating around merchant traffic. Iotova said freedom of navigation and supply chains were under threat, and that the war was turning the Black Sea into a military zone.

Why Sofia Summoned the Russian Ambassador

Radev called the October 13 strikes “absolutely unacceptable” and convened the Security Council under the Council of Ministers. He said Bulgaria still lacked conclusive evidence to accuse either Russia or Ukraine, and that “there is no logic for Ukraine to destroy its own ships, and the results of these strikes are in favour of Russia.” He then sat down with Ambassador Eleonora Mitrofanova.

The government information service quoted her as saying she understood that logic but had no information from the Russian Defence Ministry about attacks on merchant ships in the Black Sea. She did not rule out “a provocation by a third party.” The meeting lasted under an hour. She entered and left through a service door.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen did not wait on Sofia’s evidence test. She wrote that the Black Sea had become another front of the Russian war in Ukraine, condemned the drone attacks near Bulgaria’s coast, and said those responsible should be held accountable.

The Black Sea has become another front of escalation of the Russian war in Ukraine.

This is unacceptable.

I strongly condemn the drone attacks on merchant ships near Bulgaria’s coast.

Putting the lives of the crew in grave danger and threatening security in the Black Sea.

We…

— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) October 13, 2026

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, after a call with Radev, said the alliance would keep working with Black Sea allies, that it had already strengthened its eastern-flank posture, and that it would keep watching the security environment, “adjusting our deterrence and defence posture as needed.” European Council President António Costa put Russia’s growing hybrid activity on the agenda for the October 15 and 16 meeting in Brussels. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha accused Moscow of a “deliberate disregard for civilian lives and maritime security in the Black Sea” and called the sea a lifeline for global food security.

WHAT WE KNOW

• The hits: Four merchant ships were struck off Bulgaria on October 6 and October 13; Alfa Watan and HS Dignity sank.
• The people: 21 sailors from the two sunken ships have been listed missing; Chelsea 3’s 15 and Able’s 18 were taken off.
• The place: The October 13 strikes were 17 nautical miles out, just outside territorial waters; the October 6 strikes were about 70 nautical miles out.

WHAT IS UNCONFIRMED

• Who launched: Sofia says it has no conclusive public proof; Stoyanov assumes Russia; von der Leyen names Russia’s war; Mitrofanova cites no Defence Ministry information and floats a third-party provocation.
• The weapons: Chelsea 3’s crew described three aerial drones; the October 6 pair were hit by sea drones and aerial drones; search teams found no drone remains after Alfa Watan sank.
• Dignity’s 11: No official identification of the missing sailors had been issued by late October 13, and the search was still running.

Radev asked von der Leyen and Rutte for help to stop attacks on merchant ships and to thicken Bulgaria’s watch over its sea and air. Iotova said the North Atlantic Council had discussed the situation and that NATO help was envisaged for the October 6 investigation and for surveillance. The Interior Ministry has talked with partners about buying anti-drone systems that can see threats coming at the Black Sea border.

Eleven Names Are Still Missing off Krapets

THE EIGHT DAYS OFF THE BULGARIAN COAST

1. October 6, 2026: Sea drones and aerial drones hit Alfa Watan and Able about 70 nautical miles east of Byala; Alfa Watan sinks and Able burns.
2. October 7, 2026: Vice-Admiral Rumen Nikolov halts the search for Alfa Watan’s 10 sailors after crews find a boat, three rafts and wreckage, and no people.
3. October 13, 2026, 1:15 a.m.: Three aerial drones hit Chelsea 3, 17 nautical miles east of Byala; all 15 crew are later landed in Varna.
4. October 13, 2026, 1:20 a.m.: HS Dignity is struck 17 nautical miles east of Shabla and sinks; five of 16 are rescued and 11 are missing.
5. October 13, 2026, daytime: Radev summons Mitrofanova, speaks with Rutte and von der Leyen, and Iotova says Bulgaria will go to the UN Security Council.
6. October 15 and 16, 2026: The European Council is due to meet in Brussels with hybrid activity on the agenda, and Iotova wants Black Sea security as its own item.

By late October 13, four of HS Dignity’s five survivors were ashore in Varna, three of them Syrian and one Egyptian, and 11 of their shipmates were still unaccounted for off Krapets, near the Romanian border. Border police boats and other merchant ships had gone to the last known water. The empty hull of Chelsea 3 was in Varna. Alfa Watan’s 10 had been missing for a week, with the search already closed.

Sofia still would not name a launcher in public. The premiums, the refused cargoes and the 11 men still in the water were already on the books.