The Greek-managed container ship Contship Jet has sunk in the Black Sea after three sea drones struck it off Bulgaria. All 18 crew survived.
Bulgaria’s maritime administration said on Thursday that the Liberian-flagged vessel went down, AP reported. At the time, the ship was sailing from Haifa in Israel to Constanța in Romania.
How the Contship Jet was hit
Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov said three maritime drones hit the Contship Jet on Wednesday 28 October. The attack happened about 21 nautical miles off Bulgaria’s north-east coast, near Cape Kaliakra.
Read more: Bulgarian PM says drone attack on commercial vessels is ‘blatant violation of international law’
At that point, the ship was inside Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone but outside its territorial waters. According to AP, it was the fifth drone attack in that zone this month.
Navy commander Rear Admiral Kiril Mihaylov said a French patrol aircraft had warned ships in the area about the drones. As a result, he said, the ships had notice before the strike.
Even so, the admiral could not say where the drones came from. So far, no one has claimed the attack.
For context, Ukraine has blamed Russia for earlier attacks of this kind, while Russia denies them, Reuters reported. Investigators have not linked this attack to either side.
Crew rescued and cargo concerns
The crew, 14 Filipinos and four Ukrainians, abandoned ship within minutes, Bulgaria’s Transport Ministry said. Navy and border police vessels then took them to Varna.
In addition, the ministry said the crew reported 421 containers on board. About 20 containers fell into the sea after the strike, Bulgarian officials said.
Some of that cargo included fuel and other dangerous goods. The Bulgarian government said these included lithium-ion batteries, corrosive liquids and acids.
However, experts do not expect major harm to the sea or coast at this stage, Bulgaria’s maritime administration said. The ship mainly carried gas oil as fuel, officials added.
For now, authorities are still testing seawater along the coast. A navigation warning says the wreck and drifting containers remain a danger to shipping.
The Contship Jet belongs to the fleet of Contships Management, which shipowner Nikos Pateras founded in 2015. Pateras is one of Greece’s best-known shipping figures.
Above all, the company focuses on smaller feeder container ships. It had not commented publicly on the sinking of the Contship Jet in the sources reviewed.
Source: AP, BTA, Reuters
