11 Missing After Drone Strike Sinks Ship off Bulgaria’s Coast

Two commercial vessels were struck by drones off Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast overnight on October 13, sinking one ship and damaging another, Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev said. Eleven people were reported missing from the sunken vessel as rescue operations continued. The identity of that ship and the number of its crew rescued were not settled in the accounts available Tuesday. The Malta-flagged Chelsea 3 was hit by three drones about 18 nautical miles east of Byala, Radev said. All 15 people aboard were rescued, including seven Ukrainians and eight Azerbaijani nationals. Five received medical assistance, and none was seriously injured, he said. A second vessel was hit about 17 nautical miles east of Krapets and sank. Bulgarian authorities reported 11 people missing. Radev said one crew member had been rescued, while a regional spokeswoman cited preliminary information from the rescue center that five had been rescued. Search efforts for the missing continued. Reports identified the sunken ship by different names, including HS Dignity and Azov Concord. The available information did not establish which name was correct.