Bulgaria suspends search for 12 Syrian sailors after drone strike sinks cargo ship in Black Sea
Bulgarian authorities have ended their search for twelve Syrian crew members missing since a drone attack sank their cargo ship off the Bulgarian coast, with no survivors located. A second vessel was struck and caught fire, with its Turkish and Indian crew rescued, while Bulgarian officials stated they cannot yet determine who launched the drones. The incident has been linked to escalating attacks on Black Sea shipping caused by the Russia-Ukraine war.
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Bulgarian authorities confirmed on Wednesday that search operations for the crew of a cargo ship had ended following a drone strike in Black Sea waters near Bulgaria's coast. Rumen Nikolov, head of the Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Centre, stated that no survivors had been found and that the search had stopped on Tuesday night without plans to resume.
Two commercial vessels were struck by drones early on Tuesday as part of a broader wave of attacks on Black Sea shipping connected to the Russia-Ukraine war. One ship caught fire and its 18 Turkish and Indian crew members were rescued successfully. The other vessel sank, leaving approximately ten crew members unaccounted for according to Maritime.bg, a specialist maritime website. Searchers recovered only an overturned boat, three life rafts and floating debris from the sunken ship, and discovered no drone wreckage.
Prime Minister Rumen Radev called the attack "absolutely unacceptable," and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen condemned it. Bulgarian officials said they could not yet establish who was responsible for the drone strikes. Bulgaria's president linked the incident to the deteriorating security situation in the Black Sea caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which has experienced numerous recent strikes, including a significant missile and drone attack on Ukrainian cities during the same week.
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