Drones hit ship off Shabla as Bulgaria, Romania, Turkiye agree coordination mechanism
While the defence ministers of Bulgaria, Romania and Turkiye met in Sofia, a container ship was struck by three naval drones off the Bulgarian coast. All 18 crew members are safe.
Symbolic image · Photo: MrPanyGoff / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped and resized)
A container ship was struck by three naval drones on Wednesday about 21 nautical miles southeast of Shabla, Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov said. All 18 crew members were evacuated and are safe, according to the owner and Bulgaria's transport ministry. The Liberian-flagged vessel was sailing from Haifa to Constanta, Reuters reported.
The attack came as a trilateral meeting took place at the Boyana Residence in Sofia. Stoyanov, Romania's Stefan-Radu Oprea and Turkiye's Yasar Guler "unequivocally condemned" drone attacks on commercial vessels, BTA news agency reported. The three countries agreed on a trilateral coordination mechanism with regular consultations and information exchange.
Further political-level meetings are planned in Bucharest, with military expert talks in Ankara. Stoyanov said no memorandum targeting Russia or any other country was under consideration. According to BTA, the Bulgarian cabinet was due to decide on Wednesday on two memoranda, including one on acquiring MICA surface-to-air missiles for patrol ships.