Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev said on Tuesday, 6 October, that two merchant ships had been attacked by sea and aerial drones at around 03:00 in Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea, some 70 nautical miles east of the coastal town of Byala. One ship had sunk. A search was under way for its crew. The second ship had caught fire; its 18 people had been taken off by a Bulgarian vessel. Radev called the strike an absolutely unacceptable attack in the Bulgarian EEZ and a blatant violation of international law and maritime law. BTA carried the briefing from the Council of Ministers, later updated through the morning as names, flags and the rescue sequence were filled in from the Defence Ministry information centre and from the same emergency meeting.
That is the working primary. Tuesday is a named two-ship casualty in the Bulgarian search-and-rescue region, not a rewrite of Monday’s Royad Mammadov fire and sinking in the Romanian EEZ, and not a rewrite of Saturday’s unnamed Liberia-flag Odesa-region port strike. The useful facts for a DPA, a Black Sea master and a P&I desk are the two hulls, the EEZ geography, the sea-and-air drone language from the crews, the 18 people off Able, the missing crew of Alfa Watan, and the fact that Sofia’s first product was a rescue operation and a legal protest, not a published attribution to a named state actor. Do not treat a later “Russian or Ukrainian” remark as a finding. Do not invent a crew count for the sunk ship that the authorities have not published.
What Sofia actually said, and which hulls it named
Radev’s first account, as carried by BTA, is operational. The rescue was running about 70 nautical miles east of Byala. Two merchant ships had been attacked at around 03:00 by sea and aerial drones. Both were damaged. One had sunk. The Togolese-flagged ship was the one that went down; its cargo was not known; it had been sailing north. The second ship, Palau-flagged according to the Defence Ministry information centre, had been carrying wheat and sailing south. It caught fire. Its crew was evacuated and rescued by a Bulgarian vessel. Eleven of those people are Turkish nationals and seven are Indian nationals. Two were injured: one with burns, one with a head injury. A Bulgarian Navy fast craft took the two injured men; they were expected at Varna, where Naval Hospital teams had been mobilised. The remaining 16 were being moved by a border-police patrol boat.
The Bulgarian Ro-Ro/passenger ferry Dioscuria was already in the area. Its crew saw the explosion involving the first ship and headed for the site. They found an overturned boat, three overturned rafts and life jackets, but no people. Radev said the crew of the sunken vessel remained unaccounted for. Dioscuria then assisted at the second ship. Weather on scene, he said, was favourable: sea state one to two degrees Douglas, visibility of more than 10 nautical miles. Authorities were also watching for possible oil spills and environmental pollution. BNT’s English file added that the first alert came from an emergency buoy, that contact was then made with Able, and that the rescued sailors were expected in Varna after about 12 hours.
The Defence Ministry information centre, as quoted by BTA, named the hulls. The targets were two general cargo ships: Togolese-flagged Alfa Watan, IMO 7510884, and Palau-flagged Able, IMO 9001136. Alfa Watan had taken critical structural damage and had sunk east of the Bulgarian coast. There was no official information on the fate of its crew or on whether there were survivors. Able caught fire; all 18 crew abandoned the ship. Dioscuria, IMO 7931997, was diverted and took them aboard. Maritime.bg, which BTA and BNT both treat as a local maritime outlet rather than as the government notice, later said Able was still burning after the crew had left. Treat that as colour on the wreck, not as a closed fire-investigation finding.
Radev told the emergency meeting that the crews had categorically confirmed the ships were attacked with drones. Approached later, he said it was not clear where the drones came from and that the Bulgarian authorities would try to establish that, “but they were clearly either Russian or Ukrainian.” Hold that as a political remark after the meeting, not as a published technical attribution. No one had claimed the attack in Tuesday morning’s official products. He also briefed an EU Council videoconference on competitiveness and energy and described the drone attack as deeply concerning. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, in a public note carried with the BBC write-through, called attacks on civilian shipping unacceptable and said commercial ships and innocent crews were being targeted, with lives already lost at sea, while exact circumstances were still being established.
Matching, not a flag-state circular: particulars, owners and voyages
Open-register matching sits on the Defence Ministry IMOs, not on a Togo or Palau circular. Alfa Watan is a 1976-built general cargo / mini-bulker of about 83–84 metres by 12 metres and about 3,160 dwt, MMSI 671480000, call sign 5VCS7, Togo flag. VesselFinder and Maritime Optima both had her bound for Sulina, Romania. Maritime Optima’s last-port table showed Tuzla, Türkiye, departing about 06:10 UTC on 5 October, after earlier Egyptian calls at El Arish and Alexandria. BBC’s write-through said she was a Turkish-owned general cargo ship reportedly heading for Sulina, that tracking showed her entering the Black Sea northbound on Monday, and that her last reported MarineTraffic position was 23:43 GMT on Monday in the Bulgarian EEZ. Türkiye Today named Mersin-based Baraka Shipping as owner. Use the IMO, the Togo flag and the Sulina destination as the working identifiers. “Turkish-owned” is commercial colour. It is not a Turkish-flag casualty unless the flag state says so.
Able is a 1991-built general cargo ship of about 110–115 metres by 16.5–17 metres, IMO 9001136, MMSI 511100568, call sign T8A3731, Palau flag. VesselFinder had her en route to Istanbul with an 10 October ETA and a draught of about 6.7 metres. Radev’s cargo line is wheat, southbound. Türkiye Today named Istanbul-based Ocean Eagle as owner. Secondary AIS colour in Bulgarian reporting put a recent Romanian load-port call; that is voyage colour, not a published bill of lading. Fakti’s later “from Egypt / Galati” reconstruction is useful for the Danube-exit picture. It is not the Defence Ministry’s cargo finding on Alfa Watan, whose cargo Radev said was not known.
Do not invent a headcount for Alfa Watan. Radev, BTA and BNT all say the crew remains missing and that it is not clear how many people were on board. Fakti’s early “the crew has died” headline is not an official product. Brief a live SAR, not a closed fatality count, until MRCC Varna, the flag state or the owner publishes a crew list.
What this sits on — and what it does not change
Monday’s dedicated 5 October 11:30 piece is a Romanian Naval Authority casualty: Royad Mammadov, fire outside Romanian territorial waters, Interior Ministry later 11 rescued and two dead, matching IMO 9356969, Saint Kitts and Nevis. Tuesday is a different authority, a different EEZ, two different IMOs and a first-of-kind strike language from Sofia about the Bulgarian EEZ. Do not collapse Alfa Watan, Able and Royad Mammadov into one “Turkish grain ships” file. Zelenskyy’s Monday blame line on the Romanian-side maize ship is a Ukrainian political statement about Monday’s hull. It does not identify Tuesday’s drones.
Saturday’s dedicated 4 October 03:30 piece is a Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority casualty: a Liberia-flag cargo ship in an Odesa-region port, one motorman killed, three injured, local match Jincheng, IMO 9378838. That remains a port-strike file. Tuesday’s Bulgarian EEZ event is about 70 nautical miles off Byala, not alongside an Odesa berth. A separate Tuesday Odesa-region Marshall Islands rapeseed-oil casualty, if confirmed in that file, is likewise a different flag and a different authority. Brief the Bulgarian EEZ as its own SAR and war-risk event.
The Joint War Committee’s JWLA-035 circular of 16 September already lists almost the entire Black Sea as a war-risk area, excluding territorial waters of adjoining countries other than Russia and Ukraine. A sinking 70 nautical miles east of Byala does not create that listing. It is evidence, on named hulls, that a dry ship in the western basin — outside 12 nautical miles, inside a NATO state’s EEZ — is now a live crew and wreck event. Radev’s own line that the attack is seriously disrupting Black Sea shipping and driving insurance costs further up is a political description of a market that JWLA-035 already priced. It is not a new listed-area circular.
Keep Tuesday off the Hormuz desk. UKMTO Warnings 150-26, 151-26, 152-26 and 156-26 are Strait of Hormuz and Mokha products. They do not identify Alfa Watan or Able. A western-Black Sea EEZ SAR is not a UKMTO warning and is not a Bab el-Mandeb routing change.
Operational implications
Two dry ships hit in the same hour in a NATO EEZ, one sunk with its people missing, one abandoned on fire with 18 off, is a crew-welfare, wreck and war-risk event before it is a routing debate. Masters still bound between the Bosphorus, the Bulgarian coast, Sulina and the Danube mouth need a written watch for one-way-attack from the air and from the water in the western basin, not only on the approaches to Odesa, and a mustered fire party that can reach the accommodation while the ship is still making way. Charterers who have treated the Bulgarian and Romanian EEZs as the safe part of a Ukrainian or Danube stem should not. JWLA-035 already priced the basin. Tuesday puts two named IMOs on that map west of the Danube mouth.
Managers who recognise IMO 7510884 or 9001136 should assume flag, class, P&I and the Bulgarian investigator will ask for the crew list, the fire-and-abandon-ship record, whether a distress message named a weapon, AIS and VDR, and the last cargo documents. The Defence Ministry published both IMOs. Put them on the first notice of claim. A television “Turkish ships” line is not a flag-state circular.
Dioscuria’s presence is a reminder that merchant traffic itself is now the first on-scene asset in this basin. A Ro-Ro/passenger ferry saw an explosion, found empty survival craft, then took 18 people off a burning dry ship. That is a BMP and SOLAS rescue problem for every other hull in the area, not only for the two casualties. Do not brief the file as closed because Able’s people are on a navy boat bound for Varna. Alfa Watan’s crew count, wreck position, pollution state and the origin of the drones were not in Tuesday morning’s official products.
Do not brief Tuesday as proof that every western-Black Sea transit has been hit, that a named attacker is settled, or that the Bulgarian EEZ is now inside 12 nautical miles for war-risk purposes. The confirmed facts are Alfa Watan sunk, Able on fire and abandoned, 18 people off Able, the Alfa Watan crew missing, sea and aerial drones as described by the rescued crews, and a live SAR 70 nautical miles east of Byala.
What Operators Should Note
- Treat Tuesday as a Bulgarian SAR and EEZ casualty, not as a settled state-on-state shoot-down. Radev: two merchant ships, sea and aerial drones, about 03:00, about 70 nautical miles east of Byala, one sunk, one on fire, 18 off the Palau-flag wheat ship, crew of the Togo-flag ship missing. Crews confirmed drones. Origin not established in the official product. Do not put “Russian” or “Ukrainian” on the first report to underwriters from a later political remark.
- Keep both Defence Ministry IMOs in the claim file. Alfa Watan, IMO 7510884, MMSI 671480000, 5VCS7, Togo, 1976, about 83–84 × 12 m, about 3,160 dwt, matching owner Baraka Shipping, matching destination Sulina. Able, IMO 9001136, MMSI 511100568, T8A3731, Palau, 1991, about 110–115 × 16.5–17 m, matching owner Ocean Eagle, wheat, southbound toward Istanbul. “Turkish-owned” is commercial colour. Do not brief Turkish-flag casualties unless the flag states do.
- Do not close Alfa Watan’s human file. No official headcount. Dioscuria found an overturned boat, three overturned rafts and life jackets, no people. Search continuing, helicopters from Krumovo toward the Chayka naval helicopter base and a Su-25 tasked for low-speed reconnaissance in Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov’s account via Türkiye Today. Weather favourable. Brief a live SAR until MRCC Varna or the owner publishes a crew list and a revised status.
- Do not merge this pair with Monday’s Royad Mammadov or Saturday’s Odesa port strike. Monday is ANR / Interior Ministry, IMO 9356969, Romanian EEZ, two dead, 11 rescued. Saturday is USPA, Liberia-flag, Odesa-region port, motorman killed, local match Jincheng 9378838. Tuesday is Bulgaria, two IMOs, a NATO EEZ, and a missing-crew SAR. One file per authority until a second notice says otherwise.
- Re-open fire, abandon-ship and war-risk on western-basin stems, not only on Ukrainian berths. Written one-way-attack watch in the Bulgarian EEZ, including from the water as well as from the air, fire party to accommodation while under way, and a check that JWLA-035 additional premium and crew-refusal language actually cover the hours after the Bosphorus and before Sulina. Able’s 18 people left a burning dry ship. That is the drill, not a theoretical BMP annex.
- Keep this off the Hormuz, Suez and listed-area desks. It is not a new Joint War Committee circular, not UKMTO 150-26 through 156-26, and not a published MARPOL finding. CSO, DPA, both flag states and Black Sea war-risk own the file until Sofia, the flag states or class publish cause, wreck positions, pollution state and Alfa Watan’s crew count.
Regulas Shipping will keep lining Tuesday’s Radev / BTA rescue notice and the Defence Ministry’s Alfa Watan 7510884 and Able 9001136 namings against the live SAR east of Byala so operators can treat the pair as a western-Black Sea crew, wreck and war-risk event in a NATO exclusive economic zone, not as a settled attribution or a rewrite of Monday’s Romanian EEZ sinking.
