ABLE Sinks in Black Sea After Drone Strike Off Bulgaria

A Palau-flagged general cargo ship has gone down in the Black Sea after a sea drone struck its stern in Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone, the latest in a string of attacks that have put commercial shipping under mounting pressure in the region.

ABLE was hit on 6 October roughly 70 nautical miles east of Byala on Bulgaria's Black Sea coast. The explosion flooded the engine room and left the 7,400-deadweight-tonne ship disabled in open water. A Bulgarian ro-ro ferry, Dioscuria, reached the stricken ship and evacuated all 18 crew without reported casualties.

ABLE was not alone in the attack. A second ship, Alfa Watan, was struck the same day and sank. Bulgarian authorities later suspended the search for Alfa Watan's missing crew after finding no survivors.

Two days after the initial attack, the Bulgarian Navy frigate Verni located ABLE still adrift, now sinking, approximately 55 nautical miles northeast of Cape Emine. ABLE is considered lost. Bulgaria's Prime Minister Rumen Radev condemned the strikes as a gross violation of international law. Russia denied any involvement.

The Black Sea has become a dangerous corridor for commercial shipping since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The Royad Mammadov was sunk by Russian drones in the Black Sea just days earlier. The threat to neutral-flagged merchant ships in the region shows no sign of easing, and operators running routes through Bulgarian and Romanian waters are weighing diversions and higher insurance costs.

MarineRadar tracking shows ABLE drew 30 unique devices in the 24 hours after news of the attack broke, a 15-fold surge over its baseline, as maritime professionals and ship operators followed the ship's fate in real time.