Chelsea 3: Bulgaria investigates – Berlin had pledged help in clearing up attacks
Bulgaria's military prosecutors are investigating the drone strike on the cargo ship. Wadephul had pledged support to Sofia, and the EU summit condemned the attacks in the Black Sea.
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The Sofia Military District Prosecution Office has opened pre-trial proceedings into the drone attack on the cargo ship Chelsea 3, the Bulgarian news agency BTA reports. The Malta-flagged vessel was struck on 13 October about 15 nautical miles off the coastal town of Byala in Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea; it was sailing from Türkiye to Moldova. All 15 crew members were evacuated and brought to Varna.
According to BTA, the investigation was triggered by a report from the Bulgarian Lawyers for Human Rights and the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee. Investigators will examine the ship's ownership, crew, route and cargo, among other things, and the Interior Ministry is to locate witnesses. German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul (CDU) had pledged support to Bulgaria for fully clearing up the attacks on 14 October, during Foreign Minister Velislava Petrova's visit to Berlin, BNT reported: “We stand by your side when it comes to clearing up and investigating these cases.”
At the EU summit in Brussels, the European Council, of which Germany is also a member, condemned attacks on civilian ships in the Black Sea in its conclusions of 16 October, explicitly including the recent attacks in Bulgaria's and Romania's exclusive economic zones. In the leaders' view they constitute a serious violation of international and maritime law, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. They call for the immediate restoration of safe passage for all civilian shipping.