Bulgaria Suspends Search for Missing Crew as Russia Denies Attack
The crew of a small Turkish cargo ship struck early Tuesday morning, October 6, off the coast of Bulgaria has not been located, and based on the results of the search, Bulgaria ended the search. Officials told the media in a briefing on Wednesday about the two attacks, that they believe the cargo ship Alfa Watan (3,200 dwt), registered in Tonga, sank in a matter of minutes, and that they were continuing to monitor the second vessel, Able (7,400 dwt), which has been abandoned in the Black Sea.
Multiple agencies from Bulgaria, aided by Romanian aircraft, searched the Black Sea approximately 70 miles east of the Bulgarian coast. Another cargo ship, Mercy, flagged in St. Kitts and Nevis, also diverted to the area to aid in the search.
The authorities said they had received a signal from the Alfa Watan’s distress beacon at around 02:30 local time. Initial reports said they had located an overturned lifeboat, three rafts, and various debris. There was no sign of the crew, and the search was unable to locate any traces of the crew.
Bulgarian authorities have declined to comment on the specific number of seafarers who were lost, but media reports are saying there were between 10 and 12 crew, likely all from Syria. The ship, which was built in 1976, was owned by a Turkish company and was sailing into the Black Sea.
The second ship that was hit yesterday, another Turkish-owned general cargo ship, Able, registered in Palau, continues to draft after the evacuation. The Chief Director of Bulgaria’s Maritime Administration Agency, Rumen Nikolov, reported that the ship had issued a distress call around 03:30, with the crew reporting they were preparing to evacuate the ship.
Nikolov reported the ship was struck in the stern and that a large fire had resulted. The captain suffered a head injury but was released from the hospital. The chief engineer was severely burned and is in a hospital. The other crewmembers received a medical check and are in a hotel in Varna.
The authorities reported that the Able is low in the water at the stern. Nikolov set the odds at 90 percent that he believed the ship would sink in the coming hours.
Russia’s embassy in Bulgaria told Reuters that the two ships were not on the Ministry of Defense’s target list. It cautioned that an investigation was needed to identify the source of the drones that struck the two ships.
The Maritime Administrator in Bulgaria, however, said the ship was outside the country’s direct responsibility and that they were not planning an underwater search. He did not comment on whether any debris from the drones had been recovered.
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Bulgaria’s president, Illiana Votova, however, convened the National Security Advisory Council to map out steps to increase security in the region. She said Bulgaria would be working with Romania and Turkey to strengthen safety measures for merchant shipping while also calling on both Russia and Ukraine to stop the attacks on merchant shipping in the Black Sea.
Top photo from 2023 by Alkhdair - courtesy of Vessel Finder
