Bulgaria seeks ship protection after drone strikes

Bulgaria has called off the search for the crew of the Alfa Watan, a merchant ship sunk by drones off its Black Sea coast, after rescuers found neither survivors nor bodies (BNT). Prime Minister Rumen Radev says he lacks the proof to name the attacker. The neighbours Bulgaria has asked to help protect shipping have yet to agree on a way to do it.

Early on 6 October, aerial and sea drones struck two merchant ships about 70 nautical miles east of the Bulgarian coastal town of Byala, in waters where Bulgaria holds economic rights (BTA). The Togo-flagged Alfa Watan sank. The second ship, the Able, burned but stayed afloat, and all 18 of its crew were evacuated (Bulgarian government). We covered the first hours of that rescue (To Brief).

The Alfa Watan search found little. Rescue coordinator Rumen Nikolov told Reuters that 12 people, believed to be Syrian, were thought to be aboard. Crews recovered only an overturned boat, three life rafts and ship equipment before stopping at 17:00 on 6 October, and he said the search would not resume (BNT).

A day earlier and further north, a separate sinking hit Romania. On 5 October the Royad Mammadov caught fire and sank about 30 nautical miles south of Sfântu Gheorghe; two crew died and 11 were rescued (Romanian Interior Ministry, Reuters). Its operator said the ship had left Ukraine's Danube port of Izmail for Ravenna (Palmali).

Ukraine blamed Russian drones (Ukrainian presidency). Romania's naval authority recorded the fire and the sinking but did not establish a cause (Romanian Naval Authority via Agerpres). Two EU states now have sunken ships on the same trade route and no officially named attacker.

Kyiv names Russia, Sofia will not yet

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said naval contacts with Bulgaria had established a combined Russian air-and-sea drone attack on the two ships (Ukrainian presidency). Radev contradicted him after Bulgaria's national security council met on 7 October, saying his reports showed no such joint inquiry. He called a Russian attack the logical hypothesis, given the ships' cargo and direction, but said Bulgaria could not name Russia without proof (BNT).

His defence minister said drone wreckage would be needed to establish where the attack came from, and none has been recovered (BTA). Russia's embassy in Sofia said the ships were not among its military's targets (AP).

The maritime-risk firm Ambrey judged Russian responsibility for all three incidents highly likely, citing the ships' links to Danube trade (Ambrey). That is an informed professional assessment. It is not the forensic evidence Radev says he needs, and the places most likely to hold it, the burned Able and the wreck on the seabed, have not been surveyed.

A request for protection, not yet a plan

The security council urged urgent talks with Romania and Türkiye on joint action to protect merchant ships, plus more surveillance and faster purchases of counter-drone systems (BNR). Those are recommendations. Sofia can act on the domestic parts itself, but joint protection depends on Bucharest and Ankara agreeing. Radev has also proposed surveying the Able and the seabed with Romanian, Turkish and US help, which so far remains a proposal.

The three countries already share a naval group, created by a January 2024 memorandum to clear mines (Romanian Navy). Its documented work is removing hazards from shipping lanes. Nothing public gives it a mandate to escort convoys or shoot down attacking drones. The European Commission has delivered satellite imagery at Bulgaria's and Romania's request, without claiming the images identify an attacker (European Commission).

The record supports a narrow but uncomfortable finding. The one standing naval arrangement among Bulgaria, Romania and Türkiye has no publicly documented mission to defend merchant ships from drones, and Bulgaria's call for joint action has no reported acceptance. Crews moving cargo between Ukraine's Danube ports and EU harbours are sailing a route where ships have already sunk, with no named attacker and no force publicly tasked with stopping one.