Two new drone strikes on ships off Bulgaria

Updated 19 October 2026, 21:08: evidence collected from Chelsea 3

Investigators collected burnt wires, glass fragments and samples from the vessel’s three holes. Tests will seek to identify the explosive used, BNT reported on 19 October, citing supervising prosecutor Kiril Peychinov.

The ship remains in Burgas for evidence collection. The seizure of materials does not establish responsibility or mean the investigation is complete.

Sources for this update: BNT, 19 October; Prosecutor’s Office — proceedings opened on 16 October.

Updated on 17 October, 15:12: Transport Ministry announces a new rescue-vessel procurement procedure for 2027

Following the towing of Chelsea 3 to Burgas, Transport Minister Georgi Peev announced that a procedure to procure the first new rescue vessel would start in 2027. The ministry’s 17 October release says European funding is secured; it gives no delivery date. The ministry says evidence will be collected to establish the origin of the damage to Chelsea 3, with external technical expertise sought if necessary.

Source: Transport Ministry — release dated 17 October 2026

Updated 17 October, 09:32: Chelsea 3 is in Burgas; the investigation continues

Chelsea 3 arrived at the port of Burgas on the morning of 17 October, as confirmed by a BNT report from the scene. The previous evening’s expected arrival has therefore been followed by confirmed docking.

The Transport Ministry said that the tug Alioth began towing at 20:25 on 16 October. BNT’s later report gives 20:55 as the departure time for Burgas; both times are attributed to their respective sources.

The Sofia Military District Prosecutor’s Office said that pre-trial proceedings concerning the attack were opened on 16 October. Investigators are examining allegations of violations of the laws of war and gathering evidence about the vessel, crew and voyage. The announcement does not establish responsibility or guilt.

Sources: BNT, 17 October; Transport Ministry, 16 October; Sofia Military District Prosecutor’s Office, 16 October.

Updated 16 October, 16:16: Chelsea 3 towing operation resumes

The Transport Ministry says the operation to tow Chelsea 3 is under way. Its anchor has caught the seabed and stabilised the vessel; Chelsea 2 is also expected to assist.

The operation was suspended on 15 October because of the weather and risks to the teams. The new announcement does not confirm that towing has been completed.

Source, summarised: Transport Ministry, 16 October 2026

Updated October 15: rescue operation for HS Dignity has ended

The Ministry of Transport and Communications declared the search and rescue operation officially over at 15:00 on October 14. Operations had stopped half an hour earlier because of sharply deteriorating weather, with wind gusts of up to 72 km/h, reduced visibility and sea state 5.

The announcement provides no new final tally of the missing sailors. The end of the operation does not mean everyone reported missing has been found. Earlier developments are retained below.

Transport Ministry — end of the operation, October 14, 2026.

Updated October 14: search for HS Dignity sailors resumes

The Transport Ministry said the operation resumed on October 14 at 10:30 with a Bulgarian Navy vessel. The previous active phase ended on October 13 at 18:00 because of darkness and severe weather, after 16 hours of work. The new announcement does not give a final count of rescued or missing sailors.

Source, paraphrased: Ministry of Transport and Communications, October 14, 2026.

Two merchant ships were struck by drones off Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast overnight into 13 October. One vessel has sunk. These incidents are separate from the attack on ABLE and ALFA WATAN on 6 October.

Chelsea 3 hit off Byala

A distress alert from Chelsea 3 was received at around 01:30. The Maltese-flagged vessel was hit by three aerial drones about 18 nautical miles east of Byala.

Border Police evacuated all 15 sailors — seven Ukrainian and eight Azerbaijani nationals. Reuters initially reported that five had received medical attention. Later, the regional governor of Varna told bTV that six people were injured — five with minor injuries and one with minor burns. None were seriously injured.

HS Dignity sank east of Shabla

Prime Minister Rumen Radev also reported a second ship hit off Krapets. A subsequent presidential statement, reported by BNT, identified the sunken vessel as HS Dignity, sailing under the flag of Guinea-Bissau. An earlier version of this article used the name Azov Concord, following initial media reports; the information has been corrected.

According to Reuters’ updated report of 13 October, five sailors have been rescued and 11 members of the HS Dignity crew remain missing. These figures relate to an ongoing rescue operation and may change with further official updates.

At 17:29, the Ministry of Transport clarified that Azov Concord and Skandi Asserter had been in the area and were the first to assist five survivors from HS Dignity. The sunken vessel had been sailing empty from Mostaganem, Algeria, to Braila, Romania. Chelsea 3 was also empty; all 15 members of its crew have been rescued. Source: Ministry of Transport via BTA.

Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov gave different figures to the parliamentary committee: six rescued from the 16-member crew and 10 people still being sought. This differs from the reports by Reuters and the Transport Ministry's technical statement, which put the number rescued at five. Until a unified official update is published, 5000.news is treating these figures as preliminary. Source: bTV News.

Talks with the EU, NATO and the Russian ambassador

In talks with Ursula von der Leyen and Mark Rutte, the prime minister requested support to improve maritime and airspace surveillance. The government says the issue will also be raised at the European Council on 15–16 October. Bulgaria is preparing talks with Romania and Türkiye on joint proposals for shipping safety.

Radev has also met Russian Ambassador Eleonora Mitrofanova. According to the government, he said Bulgaria has no conclusive evidence of the drones’ origin. The investigation continues; political assessments do not constitute a definitive identification of the perpetrator.

This is the second such incident off Bulgaria within a week. The investigation into the 6 October strikes also continues, and Bulgaria has already requested technical assistance, satellite data and expertise from the EU and NATO.

Earlier developments: Bulgaria requested EU and NATO assistance for the Black Sea investigation.

Sources

Archive illustration: the Black Sea viewed from Byala, 18 August 2014. Author: Alexandru Panoiu / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0. Cropped and resized to 1200×675 px by 5000.news. The image does not show the attacks or the affected ships.

Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0