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Eleven Turkish and seven Indian sailors were rescued from a ship hit by drones in Bulgaria's Black Sea Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), while the crew of a second, sunken vessel remains missing, Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev said Tuesday.
"It has been categorically confirmed by the crews that the two ships were attacked with drones," Radev told an emergency meeting, adding that the vessels were struck by sea and air drones at around 3:00 a.m. about 70 nautical miles east of the town of Byala.
The strikes on two Turkish-owned cargo ships were the first such attack in Bulgaria's EEZ and came a day after another Turkish-owned ship sank off Romania, killing two crew members.
The Togo-flagged Alfa Watan, heading north, sank after the attack, and its cargo remains unknown, Radev said.
A Bulgarian ro-ro ferry that saw an explosion headed to the scene but found only an overturned boat, three overturned life rafts and life jackets.
"The crew remains missing, and the search continues," he said.
Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov said two helicopters were sent from Krumovo Air Base to the "Chayka" naval helicopter base to carry rescuers, and a Su-25 aircraft was prepared for low-speed aerial reconnaissance to search for survivors.
Weather conditions are favorable, with visibility of more than 10 miles (16 km).
The Palau-flagged Able, carrying wheat and heading south, caught fire after being hit, Radev said. All 18 crew members, 11 Turkish and seven Indian nationals, evacuated and were rescued by the Bulgarian ferry Dioscuria.
Two sailors were injured, one with burns and the other with a head injury, and were taken by fast boat to Varna, where military hospital teams were standing by, Radev said.
The remaining 16 crew members were transported by a border police patrol boat.
The abandoned Able was still burning, Bulgarian maritime outlet Maritime.bg reported.
Radev called the attack "absolutely unacceptable" and a "gross violation of international and maritime law."
He said such incidents "significantly hinder traffic in the Black Sea, raise insurance prices and create serious risk for civilian vessels."
"If the war is not stopped in time, it will continue to expand its spatial scope and increase risks, including of a global conflict," he warned.
"The most important thing for the state is to guarantee the life and health of people, regardless of who is sailing in Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone," Radev said.
The origin of the drones remains unknown.
Bulgarian opposition parties called on President Iliana Iotova to convene the Consultative Council for National Security.
London's Joint War Committee has expanded the Black Sea high-risk zone by nearly 2.4 times to cover the entire Black and Azov seas, except the 12-mile territorial waters of Bulgaria, Romania, Türkiye and Georgia, sharply raising insurance premiums for commercial shipping.
Bulgaria, Türkiye and Romania operate a joint mine countermeasures group in the Black Sea. Bulgarian naval forces have destroyed more than 30 drones, missiles and debris this year.
On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blamed Russia for the attack on the Turkish-owned Royad Mammadov off Romania.
Russia's Defense Ministry separately said Monday its forces struck two Ukrainian cargo ships in the Black Sea.
The Alfa Watan belongs to Mersin-based Baraka Shipping and the Able to Istanbul-based Ocean Eagle.
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