Short answer: Two general cargo ships, the Togolese-flagged ALFA WATAN and the Palau-flagged ABLE, were struck by sea and aerial drones at about 3:00 a.m. on October 6, 2026, roughly 70 nautical miles east of Byala in Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone. ALFA WATAN sank and its crew was still unaccounted for during the search, while ABLE, which was carrying wheat, caught fire.
All 18 crew members of ABLE were rescued with help from the Bulgarian ferry DIOSCURIA and the Bulgarian Navy; two were injured, and the crew included 11 Turkish and seven Indian nationals. Prime Minister Rumen Radev called the attack a blatant violation of international and maritime law and said it was not yet clear where the drones came from, but that they were “clearly either Russian or Ukrainian.”
Image: Port of Varna East by Kosi Gramatikoff, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.