An injured crew member from a ship struck by drones in Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone is moved on a stretcher after he was rescued, at the Varna harbour on October 6, 2026. (Photo by AFP)
Sofia, Bulgaria: No survivors have been found from a ship that sank after a drone strike off the coast of Bulgaria, rescuers said Wednesday, announcing the end of search operations.
Drones hit two commercial vessels early Tuesday in the Black Sea, the latest fallout from the Ukraine-Russia war in recent months. One caught fire, and the other sank.
Eighteen Turkish and Indian crew members were rescued from the ship that caught fire, but the crew members from the vessel that sank remain missing.
Authorities have not said how many people are missing, but according to the Maritime.bg specialised website, 10 people were aboard the ship.
"There is no trace of the sailors," Rumen Nikolov, the head of the country's Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Centre, told reporters.
The search stopped late Tuesday and would not continue, he added.
"The operation will not be resumed, because this is a search-and-rescue operation for people and vessels in distress," he said.
"What was found from the sunken ship was one overturned boat, three life rafts and debris from the ship's equipment that was floating on the surface of the sea," he added.
Asked whether any debris from the drones had been recovered, Nikolov said: "I have no information about drone debris."
Prime Minister Rumen Radev has described the attack as "absolutely unacceptable". EU chief Ursula von der Leyen has also condemned the incident.
Bulgarian authorities have said they are not yet able to determine the origin of the drones.
A distress beacon signal from the ship that sank was received at 2:54am on Tuesday (2354 GMT on Monday), while the distress signal from the other ship was received at 3:23am, Nikolov said.
Both commercial ships were managed by Turkey-based companies, according to the Equasis merchant shipping database.
They were hit around 70 to 80 nautical miles (130 to 150 kilometres) east of the Bulgarian coastal town of Byala.
The strike came a day after another ship caught fire and sank off the Romanian coast on Monday, killing one and leaving one missing. Ukraine said the drone attack was launched by Russia.
