Warning, attack and rescue
Bulgarian Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov said three maritime drones struck the vessel on Wednesday, about 21 nautical miles from the Bulgarian coast. Other reports put the location about 17 nautical miles east of Cape Kaliakra. Footage is said to show an unmanned sea drone approaching the ship, according to t-online.
Before the attack, a French maritime patrol aircraft over the western Black Sea detected the approaching drones and notified the Bulgarian Navy. The ship's crew received a warning and attempted to steer clear, but could not escape the drones, Tovima.com reported.
Bulgarian authorities received the distress signal at 12:01 p.m. local time. The crew abandoned ship 12 minutes later.
The crew consisted of 14 Filipinos and four Ukrainians. Bulgarian navy and border police vessels carried out the rescue: a navy vessel picked up eight crew members, while the remaining ten were recovered from the ship's lifeboat. All were taken to Varna's port for medical checks.
Cargo losses and water sampling
The Contship Jet was carrying 421 containers on a voyage from Haifa, Israel, to Constanța, Romania, when it was hit, according to Bulgarian authorities and the operator. The vessel was under charter to Israel's ZIM Integrated Shipping Services and belonged to the fleet of Contships Management, founded by Greek shipowner Nikos Pateras in 2015.
Lithium-ion batteries, flammable liquids, gases and other hazardous materials were among the cargo in some containers. At least 20 containers went overboard, prompting warnings to shipping about navigational hazards.
Bulgarian navy teams collected water samples at several locations within the country's territorial waters. Those samples showed no signs of pollution.
Regional toll and security response
The sinking was the third loss of a merchant ship in five attacks in Bulgaria's economic zone since the beginning of October, according to t-online. Across the waters off Bulgaria and Romania, at least nine civilian vessels have been attacked during that period. The AP reported that attacks in the two countries' exclusive economic zones have killed two people and left at least 25 missing.
Those losses include the Comoros-flagged Khoryv, which sank near Constanța on October 23. One sailor died and three were missing.
The Contship Jet attack coincided with a meeting in Sofia where the defense ministers of Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey were discussing Black Sea security. Following the talks, the three NATO allies strongly condemned drone attacks on merchant shipping and called for an immediate halt to strikes that put commercial vessels and infrastructure at risk. They also agreed to expand intelligence sharing, strengthen early warning and improve regional coordination.
