Drone attack hits two merchant ships near Bulgarian coast, one sinks

At least one merchant ship sank after drone attacks struck two merchant vessels near the Bulgarian coast on Tuesday, Bulgaria's government information service said.

According to Prime Minister Rumen Radev, the first attack occurred at around 1:30 am local time, 18 nautical miles east of the city of Burgas. The targeted vessel, the "Chelsea 3," was sailing under the Maltese flag, owned by a Ukrainian company and registered in Odesa.

According to crew members, three aerial drones struck the ship. Bulgarian authorities safely evacuated all 15 crew members on board — seven from Ukraine and eight from Azerbaijan — and brought them to Varna port.

Officials said a second attack struck another merchant vessel about 17 nautical miles east of the city of Krapets. Authorities said that vessel has sunk.