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‘The logic points in that direction’: Drones strike a container ship off Bulgaria as attacks on NATO’s Black flank pile up
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Three maritime drones struck a container ship sailing in the Black Sea off the coast of Bulgaria on Wednesday, the country’s defense minister said, the latest in a string of such incidents on NATO’s eastern flank.
Key facts
- The attack on the Liberian-flagged container ship, the Contship Jet, occurred a little before 1 p.m
- On Oct. 23, a foreign-flagged cargo ship capsized and sank in the Black Sea following a suspected drone strike about 13 nautical miles off the Romanian port city of Constanta
- Throughout the war, Russia has repeatedly bombarded Ukraine’s Black Sea and Danube River ports, leaving Kyiv increasingly reliant on alternative routes to get its grain exports to markets in Africa
- The attacks in Bulgaria and Romania’s exclusive economic zones threaten a global shipping route and have left two people dead, with at least 25 still missing
Summary
The attack on the Liberian-flagged container ship, the Contship Jet, occurred a little before 1 p.m. local time about 21 nautical miles southeast of the coastal town of Shabla, near Cape Kaliakra in northeastern Bulgaria, Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov told reporters. The crew evacuated the vessel and were eventually taken on board rescue vessels of the Bulgarian Navy and border police, according to the state news agency BTA. The ship was en route from Israel’s port of Haifa to Constanța in Romania. The incident took place as defense ministers from Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey were meeting in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, for trilateral talks focused on security in the Black Sea region.