After drone strike off Kaliakra: about 20 containers lost at sea – water samples today
The stricken freighter Contship Jet is drifting with three hull breaches after some 20 containers went overboard. The environment ministry is sampling seawater at five coastal sites today.
Symbolic image · Photo: ARKADIUSZ MARKIEWICZ / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped and resized)
After Wednesday's attack by three sea drones on the container ship Contship Jet, authorities are assessing possible consequences for the Black Sea. According to Navy chief Rear Admiral Kiril Mihaylov, the vessel was hit about 16 nautical miles east of Cape Kaliakra, in the contiguous zone outside Bulgaria's territorial waters. It has three breaches on its port side and is drifting. According to the captain, the containers held various fuels and other dangerous goods; about 20 fell into the sea. The Navy issued warnings to shipping. The crew was rescued and reached Varna; according to the Varna regional governor, there are no reports of injuries.
"We don't know where they came from," Mihaylov told BNT of the drones, saying only that they had been detected there by a French patrol aircraft. According to the cargo manifest, the ship carried lithium-ion batteries, acids, flammable liquids and household chemicals, among other goods. An initial environment ministry check near Shabla and in Bolata Bay found no oil slicks. Water samples are being taken today at Durankulak, Shabla, Kaliakra, Byala and Sozopol, and the results will be published.
In nearby Balgarevo, villagers heard the blasts. "The first explosion was around 12:00, the other around 12:30," Mayor Georgi Yanev told BNT. Concern is growing "because everything is happening closer and closer to the shore." Fishing boats work in the area, and residents also fear sea pollution and a drop in tourism.