The CONTSHIP JET was travelling from Haifa in Israel to Constanța in Romania, carrying 421 containers, when it entered Bulgaria’s Exclusive Economic Zone in the western Black Sea. The Liberian-flagged vessel was outside Bulgarian territorial waters.
Bulgarian naval authorities had received a warning from a French patrol aircraft of a possible drone attack, Bulgarian naval commander Kiril Mihaylov said. They were unable to stop it.
Three naval drones struck the ship, which had been chartered by the Israeli shipping company ZIM.
Video footage showed a matte black unmanned surface vehicle, measuring 5-6 meters long, approaching at speed. It travelled alongside the vessel, turned towards its hull and exploded, causing the ship to list heavily.
There were 18 people aboard, comprising 14 Filipinos and four Ukrainians. They were all evacuated safely and transferred to the Bulgarian port of Varna.
The ship later sank, destroying its 421 containers. Its cargo included lithium-ion batteries, corrosive liquids and acids, and industrial components.
Initial inspections on Thursday found no visible pollution from the vessel.
The attack was at least the sixth drone strike on a commercial ship off Bulgaria this month.
Ukraine blamed Russia for the attack, while Russia denied involvement.
Tomas Alexa, a senior analyst at Ambrey Analytics, said the unmanned surface vehicle was likely a variant of, or derived from, the Russian Murena-300S design.
Andriy Ryzhenko, a former senior Ukrainian navy officer, said the drone seen in the footage did not resemble any Ukrainian naval-drone model known to him.
Rumen Radev, Bulgaria’s Prime Minister, said some of the attacks appeared to benefit Russia. Bulgaria is seeking allied help to strengthen maritime security.
On October 29, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis used a high-level debate held during the Greek presidency of the UN Security Council on maritime security to call for a global maritime truce.
“Targeted civilian commercial shipping is completely unacceptable. It is yet another reminder for the urgent need for a global maritime truce.”
Mitsotakis said commercial vessels must be able to travel safely and freely during conflict. Disruptions to freedom of navigation, he said, raise shipping and insurance costs and ultimately increase costs for consumers.
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