Bulgaria to retry towing drone-hit freighter Chelsea 3 to Burgas
The unmanned ship is drifting east of Primorsko after a first attempt to tow it to Burgas failed Thursday due to strong winds and high waves.
Archive image · Photo: Burgas_Juni2012_Hafen_und_der_Burgas-See.JPG: Vammpi derivative work: Vammpi / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped and resized)
Bulgaria is expected to resume an operation to tow the freighter Chelsea 3, hit by drones in the Black Sea, to the port of Burgas, public broadcaster BNT and bTV reported Friday morning. The operation will restart once the weather improves, they said. Further steps depend on weather conditions and the safety of the crews, bTV reported. No exact time was given.
On Thursday, the Maritime Administration sent the tug Aliot and the boat Spasitel 2 to the vessel. Heavy swells prevented an emergency team from boarding, and the tug returned to Burgas without the ship at around 4 p.m. The unmanned, Maltese-flagged vessel has since drifted into the 12-nautical-mile zone east of Primorsko.
Chelsea 3 was struck on Oct. 13 about 17 nautical miles east of Byala, and all 15 crew members were rescued. Once in Burgas, the ship is to be inspected for traces of the drones. Prime Minister Rumen Radev has said possible debris could help establish whose drones carried out the attack.