Escalation in the Black Sea has now become a daily occurrence in the context of the Ukraine war, and more dangerous is that Russia and NATO are inching closer to direct conflict.
Bulgaria has announced Tuesday that two commercial ships were hit by drones in what it says marks a first attack on shipping within the NATO member’s exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea. Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev declared “This is an unacceptable attack in Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone. It is a blatant violation of international law and maritime law.”via Marinetraffic.com
The vessels have been identified as the Togo-flagged Alfa Watan and the Palau-flagged Able. Both caught fire as a result, with the Alfa Watan having quickly sank at the scene, with no immediate word of the crew’s fate.
The impact on Togo-flagged ship was reportedly much bigger and more devastating. As for another interesting and alarming detail:
The crew of the first ship confirmed it was under attack from both “aerial and sea drones,“ Radev said.
And this was followed by a threat related to a mystery ship off Bulgaria:
Radev stated that the Bulgarian defense ministry is tracking a suspicious “drifting ship” in the Black Sea, which has reportedly been on the country’s radar since August. “If it continues to somehow head toward our coast, we are fully ready to act,” he added.
As for the Able, all 18 crew members were rescued amid the Bulgarian emergency response, with two among the sailors suffering severe injuries and transported to the hospital. The attacks happened at around 3am, some 80 miles off Bulgaria’s coast.
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Unlike in prior Black Sea incidents where authorities were quick to name Russia’s military as behind the attack, it is curious that in this case the Bulgarians have not been quick to make allegations as the origin of the drones has not been established.
PM Radev continued, “As a state responsible within our exclusive economic zone for the health and lives of anyone navigating in this area, regardless of who is responsible, we are obliged to conduct emergency search and rescue operations.”
“What is happening is seriously disrupting shipping in the Black Sea, driving up insurance costs even further and making shipping extremely difficult,” he added.
Monday saw a prior major maritime attack incident which was quickly widely blamed on Russia. A Turkish cargo ship identified as the Royad Mammadov was sunk after being hit by a drone, after it left the Ukrainian port of Ismail in the Odesa region.
That earlier incident happened off Romania, triggering a large-scale rescue operation. Two crew members died, while eleven others were rescued, and with another reported missing. Ukraine’s Zelensky said Russian forces were behind it.
There’s no doubt that the tit-for-tat war on Black Sea shipping is getting nastier as for several months now both Russian and Ukrainian forces have traded drone and missile attacks on ports and ships, disrupting vital Black Sea trade.
