In brief
Three maritime drones hit the Greek-flagged container ship *CONTSHIP JET* near Shabla on 28 October 2026, causing the vessel to sink and leading to the rescue of 18 crew. Bulgarian officials have begun a multi‑location seawater sampling campaign to detect potential pollution from the ship’s cargo of light fuel oil and lithium‑ion batteries. The incident adds to a series of drone attacks on commercial shipping in Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone amid tensions in the Black Sea.
On Wednesday night, 28 October 2026, the Greek‑flagged container ship CONTSHIP JET was struck by three maritime drones approximately 21 nautical miles southeast of Shabla, east of Cape Kaliakra, and sank around midnight, Bulgarian officials report.
The vessel was carrying 421 containers that included light fuel oil—specifically gas oil—and a number of lithium‑ion batteries. Twenty containers reportedly fell overboard during the attack.
All 18 crew members—14 Filipinos and four Ukrainians—were rescued by Bulgarian lifeboat crews and brought to Varna, as confirmed by the Varna Regional Administration and the Maritime Administration Executive Agency.
In a statement, Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov told reporters, “A container ship was hit…with three naval drones, approximately 21 miles southeast of Shabla,” adding that the attack was part of a growing series of incidents that have heightened concerns about the war in Ukraine spilling into Bulgarian waters.
Admiral Emil Eftimov, Bulgaria’s outgoing Chief of Defence, said:
We are not at war. The drones did not enter territorial waters, so we did not take action.
After the sinking, teams from the Defence Ministry collected samples in two locations inside Bulgarian territorial waters and found no visible signs of pollution. Maritime Administration experts assessed the cargo’s light fuel oil as evaporating quickly, predicting it would not reach the Bulgarian coast.
On Thursday, the Environment and Water Ministry announced that seawater samples would be collected at five coastal sites—Durankulak, Shabla, Cape Kaliakra, Byala, and Sozopol—by the Black Sea Basin Directorate and the Executive Environment Agency. The samples will be analyzed for petroleum products, polychlorinated biphenyls, metals, and other physicochemical indicators to detect pollution that cannot be seen visually.
The Ministry added that monitoring will continue and that the results of the analyses will be made public, ensuring accountability to the public and stakeholders who rely on Bulgaria’s Black Sea trade routes.
The drone attack, which is the fifth such incident in Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone since the start of October, reflects a shifting security dynamic in the Black Sea, with threats now expanding beyond traditional naval areas toward commercial shipping lanes, a trend Admiral Eftimov attributed to increased operations from the east.
With the vessel now permanently lost, Bulgarian authorities are coordinating closely with international partners and maritime safety agencies to prevent further disruptions and to safeguard the marine environment from any long‑term damage that could arise from the spillage of hazardous cargo.
