Chelsea 3: Investigators seize first physical evidence from drone-hit freighter
Burnt wiring, glass fragments and swabs from three hull breaches will be tested for explosives. The 15 crew members are still waiting to go home.
Archive image · Photo: Vammpi / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped and resized)
Military prosecutors in Sofia and the Interior Ministry's counter-terrorism unit spent a second day examining the freighter Chelsea 3, which was hit by drones in the Black Sea and towed to the port of Burgas. According to broadcaster BNT, investigators seized badly burnt wiring, pieces of glass and swabs from the three breaches. Expert examinations are to establish the origin and type of the explosive. Divers inspected the hull below the waterline, and bomb disposal experts found no radiation or dangerous munitions.
The investigation is supervised by prosecutor Major Kiril Peychinov, with the State Agency for National Security, the intelligence agency and military intelligence also involved. Two breaches are in the cargo hold and one in the stern, where the engine room is, leaving the ship unable to steer. Towing cost the state about 200,000 euros, which according to BNT should be covered by the shipowner's insurance.
The 15 crew members from Ukraine and Azerbaijan are staying in a hotel in Varna and are due to be questioned before a judge. They are waiting for documents and visas to travel home. Captain Zhivko Petrov, head of the Maritime Administration in Burgas, said the owner will decide the ship's fate once the authorities have finished; in his view it should be repaired at a Bulgarian shipyard in Burgas or Varna.