Drones Just Sank a Cargo Ship Off Bulgaria, a NATO Country

Описание: On Tuesday, Oct 6, 2026, sea and air drones hit two general cargo ships in Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea, about 70 nautical miles east of Byala. The Togo-flagged Alfa Watan sank; Bulgaria ended the search for her crew and says there is no trace of the sailors (Maritime.bg reports 10 were aboard; officials have not confirmed the number). All 18 crew of the Palau-flagged Able (11 Turkish, 7 Indian) were rescued by the Bulgarian ferry Dioscuria.

Nobody has officially established who launched the drones. Bulgarian officials say the origin has not been determined; Ukraine's President Zelensky blamed Russia; Russia did not immediately comment. The video reports attributed statements only.

Sources: Reuters via gCaptain (Oct 6), Euronews (Oct 6-7), AFP via Turkish Minute (Oct 7), BTA, Maritime.bg, MARISKS advisory, SAFETY4SEA (JWC listed areas, Sept 2026), Reuters (JWC), NBC News, The Guardian, Babel.ua, India's Ministry of External Affairs via Euronews, Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry via Euronews.
Footage: Nova TV via APT, Bulgarian Ministry of Defence (armymedia.bg), BGNES, meyavuz Vlog, Insp Kostadinov, Jivko Iordanov, 1212 Studios (short clips, muted). Generic ship and navy footage is file footage and does not show the Alfa Watan or the Able.
Thumbnail photo: Calistemon, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons (general cargo ship in the Bosphorus, 2024; illustrative, not a ship in this story; markings blurred, graded and cut out).
Maps are illustrative, positions approximate (map data: Natural Earth).

Port Report: shipping news, explained.

Sources:
https://gcaptain.com/drone-sinks-ship...
https://www.euronews.com/2026/10/06/d...
https://www.turkishminute.com/2026/10...
https://safety4sea.com/jwc-expands-bl...