Drone Sinks Alfa Watan in Bulgaria’s Black Sea Zone

The Togo-flagged cargo ship Alfa Watan sank in Bulgaria's Black Sea exclusive economic zone on Tuesday after drone strikes hit the ship about 70 nautical miles east of Byala. The crew is missing.

A second ship caught fire in the same area. The Palau-flagged grain ship Able was abandoned after a separate strike, but all 18 crew were rescued by the Dioscuria. The sailors included 11 Turkish and 7 Indian nationals.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev called the attacks a gross violation of international law and convened an emergency cabinet meeting. The incident is the first drone attack recorded in Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone, bringing the war at sea to NATO member waters for the first time.

The sinkings came a day after Russian drones sank the Royad Mammadov in the Black Sea, killing two crew members. The broader pattern has been building for months: Ukraine's drone campaign has hit 300 shadow fleet ships in the Azov and Black Sea.

Alfa Watan had been under active MarineRadar tracking, with a sharp rise in traffic to its page from the moment news of the attack began to spread.