Drones strike two vessels in Bulgaria's economic zone; one ship sinks

Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev on Tuesday said two commercial vessels were struck by drones inside the country's Exclusive Economic Zone, marking the first attack on shipping in the exclusive waters of a Nato country.The ships were attacked by several drones about 128 kilometres off Bulgaria’s coast, Radev said, after he held an emergency meeting on the incident.One of the vessels, the Togo-flagged Alfa Watan, suffered critical structural damage and sank on the spot. Officials had no immediate information about what happened to the crew, Radev said.The other ship, the Able, sailing under the Palau flag, burst into flames following the attack.

A Bulgarian ferry rescued all 18 crew members. Two of them were seriously hurt and were airlifted to a hospital in the port city of Varna, the PM informed.However, the origin of the drones remains unknown.A day earlier, a Turkish-owned cargo ship carrying grain was also struck in the Black Sea and ultimately sank after catching fire, killing an Indian and an Azerbaijani citizen.

Exclusive Economic Zone

Unlike a nation's territorial waters, which extend 12 nautical miles from the coast and are treated as sovereign land, an EEZ extends up to 200 nautical miles.In this zone, the coastal state only has functional economic rights like fishing, oil drilling, and mining rather than total sovereignty. Other nations still retain high seas freedoms, such as navigation and overflight.