{"id":1196,"date":"2026-11-03T03:34:44","date_gmt":"2026-11-03T03:34:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regulasshipping.com\/blog\/navwarn-784-26-records-a-drifting-tank-east-of-ahtopol\/"},"modified":"2026-11-03T03:35:44","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T03:35:44","slug":"navwarn-784-26-records-a-drifting-tank-east-of-ahtopol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regulasshipping.com\/blog\/navwarn-784-26-records-a-drifting-tank-east-of-ahtopol\/","title":{"rendered":"NAVWARN 784-26 records a drifting tank east of Ahtopol"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bulgaria\u2019s Navy Hydrographic Service, now carrying NAVIM 784\/26 on its Bulgarian in-force board, prints a drifting tank east of Ahtopol as a named navigational danger, not as a wreck rewrite. The working primary is the official Bulgarian text: NAVIM No. 784 of 2 November 2026, EAST OF AHTOPOL. At 0830 UTC on 2 November 2026 a drifting tank (\u0446\u0438\u0441\u0442\u0435\u0440\u043d\u0430) was reported at 42-09.2N 027-58.6E. The same is drifting in a southerly direction and represents a navigational danger. Mariners are to navigate with increased caution. That is the product. It names one plot, it names an 0830 UTC 2 November sighting clock, it names a south set, and it upgrades the object to a navigational danger. It does not print a hull name, an IMO number, a dangerous-goods class, a keep-clear radius, a wreck buoy, a least depth, a pollution volume, a salvage contract, a cancel time, or a port closure.<\/p>\n

That is Tuesday morning\u2019s working primary. It is a Black Sea drifting-object instrument. It is not a new 3 November UKMTO Attack PDF, not a rewrite of Monday morning\u2019s dedicated NAVWARN 779\/26 four-container watch east of Burgas Bay, and not a conversion of Thursday\u2019s dedicated 768\/26 Contship Jet wreck onto an Ahtopol tank. Official English on hs-navy.mod.bg still starts at NAVWARN 781\/26 this morning and has not yet taken 784, 786, 787 or 788. SeaLagom\u2019s English reprint, first seen at 10:27 UTC on 2 November and updated at 22:43 UTC, prints SOUTH OF AHTOPOL and 42-02.20N 027-58.60E. Hold that reprint separately. Do not treat 42-02.20N as a second tank, and do not promote SeaLagom\u2019s \u201csouth of Ahtopol\u201d tag onto the official east-of-Ahtopol plot.<\/p>\n

What NAVIM 784 actually printed<\/h2>\n

The hydrographic text is short and is the working primary. NAVIM 784\/02.11.2026. East of Ahtopol. At 0830 UTC on 2 November 2026 a drifting tank was reported at 42-09.2N 027-58.6E. The same is drifting south and represents a navigational danger. Mariners to navigate with increased caution. Stay with that wording. The board\u2019s \u201c\u041d\u041e\u0415 2026\u201d is 2 November 2026, the same convention as the rest of the Varna Radio tape, not a 2025 leftover. Do not invent a hull. Do not invent an IMO number. Do not invent flammable gases, non-flammable non-toxic gases or flammable liquids on this notice. Those classes sit on dedicated 768\/26. They do not sit on 784\/26. Do not invent a five-cable or one-nautical-mile circle around 42-09.2N 027-58.6E. 784\/26 does not print one. Do not invent a wreck buoy, a light, a least depth, or a shoreline-pollution confirmation. The notice does not print those either. Do not invent a cancel clock. 784\/26 is until further notice on the Tuesday morning in-force board. Do not invent a tanker ship. The official word is \u0446\u0438\u0441\u0442\u0435\u0440\u043d\u0430, a tank or cistern, not a named tanker hull.<\/p>\n

The geography is the first briefing fact. Ahtopol sits on Bulgaria\u2019s southern Black Sea face, in Tsarevo Municipality, well south of Burgas Bay and well south of Cape Kaliakra. 42-09.2N 027-58.6E is on the order of one nautical mile east of that town, not 40 nautical miles north-northeast at Contship Jet\u2019s 43-07.80N 028-45.36E wreck, and not Monday morning\u2019s four Burgas Bay container plots around 42-33N. A passage plan that only carried 779\/26\u2019s east-of-Burgas-Bay watch, or that treated the southern coast as empty because 768\/26 is a Kaliakra wreck, has not budgeted a tank drifting south off Ahtopol. Do not convert 784\/26 onto 768\/26 because both sit in Bulgarian territorial-sea reporting. A Kaliakra wreck and an Ahtopol tank are two products.<\/p>\n

The object type is the second briefing fact. 784\/26 prints a drifting tank. It does not print a container, a lifeboat, a barge, a wreck, or a named ship. Monday morning\u2019s dedicated 779\/26 printed four drifting containers. Same-board 780\/26 printed one dangerous drifting container in Burgas Gulf. 781\/26, still the top line on this morning\u2019s official English board, printed a dangerous drifting boat in Burgas Gulf at 42-22.6N 028-13.0E. Overnight the Bulgarian board added 786\/26, a drifting lifeboat without crew east of Maslen Nos; 787\/26, two drifting containers east of Burgas Bay; and 788\/26, drifting objects (containers) east of Primorsko. Those are wrap on this morning\u2019s 784\/26, not a second dedicated tank piece and not a Contship naming. A DPA who briefs Tuesday morning as \u201canother four containers\u201d has borrowed 779\/26\u2019s object class and dropped the tank that is the whole of 784\/26.<\/p>\n

The missing radius is the third briefing fact. 766\/26 still prints a five-cable keep-clear on Khoryv. 739\/26 still prints a two-cable radius east of Primorsko. 93\/26 still prints a five-cable keep-clear on KAIROS in Burgas Bay. 784\/26 prints increased caution and no numeric berth. That is a lookout and CPA problem, not a closed circle. Do not invent a two-nautical-mile ARN-style berth because Sunday morning\u2019s dedicated ARN 162\/2026 used one; that Romanian object self-cancelled at 021000 UTC 2 November and is unused as rewrite.<\/p>\n

Industry colour of the same clock, held separately: BTA, updated 20:13 local on 2 November, reported that an empty tanker had been spotted at sea off Ahtopol, about two kilometres from the coast, by Border Police, and that Burgas Regional Administration believed the object and a separate container washed ashore near Tsarevo to be cargo from the sunken vessel Contship Jet. BTA added that no recovery could be carried out at present because of rough seas and strong waves, that Burgas Regional Governor Diko Dikov visited the Ahtopol area, and that a container on the rocks between Arapya and Oasis campsites was under round-the-clock security with a Military Prosecution pre-trial investigation. The Transport and Communications Ministry\u2019s initial line on that ashore container was Christmas decorations destined for Romania. Those extras are not on NAVIM 784. 784\/26 printed a tank, 42-09.2N 027-58.6E, east of Ahtopol, drifting south. It printed no \u201cempty,\u201d no tanker ship, no Contship Jet, no IMO 9348625, no two-kilometre offset, no Border Police, no Christmas decorations, and no Arapya shoreline. Treat the BTA tape as industry colour. Do not collapse it onto 784\/26 as a hydrographic naming of Contship Jet, a cargo class, an empty finding, or a conversion of the Tsarevo ashore container onto the Ahtopol tank. The ashore container is a different object. It is not this notice.<\/p>\n

SeaLagom English colour, held separately: the 10:27 UTC 2 November first-seen line printed SOUTH OF AHTOPOL, 020830 UTC, DRIFTING TANK, 42-02.20N 027-58.60E, DRIFTING SOUTH, DANGEROUS TO NAVIGATION, increased caution. The 22:43 UTC update still prints 42-02.20N and SOUTH OF AHTOPOL, with \u201cDRIFTING AT SOUTH TANK\u201d wording. Official Bulgarian prints EAST OF AHTOPOL and 42-09.2N 027-58.6E. That is a seven-minute latitude split and an east\/south split. 42-09.2N sits on the order of one nautical mile east of Ahtopol and matches BTA\u2019s \u201cabout two kilometres from the coast\u201d colour. 42-02.20N would sit several nautical miles further south. Do not invent which plot is the tank. Log the official 42-09.2N as the working plot. Log SeaLagom\u2019s 42-02.20N as an industry-reprint discrepancy, not as a second NAVIM. Official English on hs-navy.mod.bg has not yet resolved the split because it has not yet taken 784.<\/p>\n

Same-board wrap, held separately<\/h2>\n

NAVIM 786\/26, 2 November, EAST OF MASLEN NOS. At 1245 UTC on 2 November a drifting lifeboat without crew was observed at 42-18.9N 027-56.4E. Mariners to navigate with increased caution and keep a safe distance. No hull, no IMO, no radius, no cancel time. Distinct from 784\/26\u2019s tank and from 781\/26\u2019s Burgas Gulf boat. Unused as dedicated unless a later NAVWARN names a hull against 42-18.9N 027-56.4E or converts the lifeboat into a wreck watch.<\/p>\n

NAVIM 787\/26, 2 November, EAST OF BURGAS BAY. At 0845 UTC on 2 November two drifting containers were observed at 42-32.0N 028-19.0E and 42-22.9N 028-18.0E. Mariners to navigate with increased caution and keep a safe distance. Distinct from dedicated 779\/26\u2019s four plots at 010855 UTC 1 November. Unused as a second Burgas container piece unless a later NAVWARN names a hull against those two plots or reprints recovery.<\/p>\n

NAVIM 788\/26, 2 November, EAST OF PRIMORSKO. At 1230 UTC on 2 November drifting objects (containers) were observed at 42-21.7N 028-01.3E and 42-12.0N 028-00.3E. Mariners to navigate with increased caution and keep a safe distance. Distinct from standing 739\/26\u2019s two-cable radius at 42-14.04N 028-03.38E. Unused as dedicated unless a later NAVWARN names a hull against those two plots.<\/p>\n

NAVWARN 781\/26 remains on this morning\u2019s official English board: BURGAS GULF, dangerous drifting boat, 42-22.6N 028-13.0E at 011210 UTC 1 November, caution, keep safety distance. That is wrap on Monday morning\u2019s dedicated 779\/26, unused as dedicated. 780\/26 remains wrap: Burgas Gulf dangerous drifting container 42-10.4N 028-04.5E at 011220 UTC 1 November, wide berth requested. 779\/26 remains Monday morning\u2019s dedicated four-container watch. 776\/26 remains the dedicated Galata diving box, prohibited 030600\u2013051430 UTC 3\u20135 November \u2014 that window opens later this morning. 777\/26 remains Friday night\u2019s dedicated Burgas cutter-331 piece, 030615\u2013061600 UTC 3\u20136 November, three-cable berth. 775\/26 remains Thursday night\u2019s dedicated two-hour e-mail to sp@vtmis.bg before territorial-sea entry. Those products stay in the master\u2019s pack. They are not this tank.<\/p>\n

What this is not<\/h2>\n

This is not NAVWARN 768\/26, and it is not a Contship Jet naming. Thursday afternoon\u2019s dedicated 768\/26 remains: SE of Kaliakra Cape, 282030 UTC 28 October, M\/V CONTSHIP JET IMO 9348625 sunk in 43-07.80N 028-45.36E, over 20 containers adrift, lost cargo includes flammable gases, non-flammable non-toxic gases, flammable liquids and other dangerous goods, wreck and drifting containers pose immediate navigational danger, extreme caution advised. 784\/26 prints a tank, 42-09.2N 027-58.6E, east of Ahtopol. It does not print Contship Jet, 9348625, Kaliakra, a DG class list, or a wreck. About 70 nautical miles and five days separate the wreck plot from this tank. BTA\u2019s belief that the Ahtopol object came from Contship Jet is colour. It is not a 784\/26 fact. Do not collapse 784\/26 onto 768\/26 as a completed cargo identification. Do not collapse 768\/26 onto 784\/26 as a wreck-move south to Ahtopol. The wreck remains at 43-07.80N 028-45.36E.<\/p>\n

This is not NAVWARN 779\/26, and it is not a fourth Burgas container. Monday morning\u2019s dedicated 779\/26 remains four drifting containers east of Burgas Bay at 010855 UTC 1 November: 42-33N 028-09E, 42-32N 028-11E, 42-34N 028-16E and 42-27N 028-13E, navigation danger, extreme caution advised. 784\/26 is a tank, 0830 UTC 2 November, east of Ahtopol. A four-plot container watch in Burgas Bay is not a single tank off Ahtopol. Do not convert 787\/26\u2019s two later Burgas containers onto 779\/26 as a rewrite, and do not convert either onto 784\/26.<\/p>\n

This is not NAVWARN 766\/26, and it is not Khoryv. Thursday morning\u2019s dedicated Khoryv keep-clear remains 43-30.60N 028-43.69E, capsized, semi-submerged, drifting, without crew and lights, five cables. 784\/26 is not a ship, not unmanned-unlit wording, and not a five-cable circle. This is not standing 93\/26 KAIROS in Burgas Bay. This is not Sunday morning\u2019s dedicated ARN 162\/2026, which self-cancelled at 021000 UTC 2 November. This is not 775\/26\u2019s two-hour territorial-sea e-mail, not 776\/26\u2019s Galata diving box, and not 777\/26\u2019s cutter 331.<\/p>\n

This is not last night\u2019s dedicated Warning 193-26, not last night\u2019s dedicated 425\/26 Selat Storm wreck, not Monday afternoon\u2019s dedicated IMO 123-count, and not this morning\u2019s dedicated IMO 125-count. Those are Hormuz, Musandam and IMO-board instruments. An Ahtopol tank does not belong on that tape. NAVAREA IX still ends at 426\/26. UKMTO still ends at 193-26. No 194-26, no Update 111, no 427\/26 and no NAVWARN 785 this run. 785 is unused as a number; the Bulgarian board jumped from 784 to 786.<\/p>\n

Operational implications<\/h2>\n

For a master already shaping a Burgas, Tsarevo, Ahtopol, Sozopol or Turkish-border coastal transit, or holding for a Bulgarian territorial-sea crossing under 775\/26, Tuesday morning is a tank on a south set about one nautical mile east of Ahtopol, on top of Monday\u2019s four Burgas containers, on top of overnight\u2019s lifeboat and extra container plots, and on top of the still-in-force Kaliakra wreck and Shabla Khoryv keep-clear. 775\/26 remains the working two-hour e-mail to sp@vtmis.bg<\/a> before territorial-sea entry. 776\/26\u2019s Galata diving prohibition opens at 030600 UTC this morning. 777\/26\u2019s cutter 331 opens at 030615 UTC. A passage plan that only carried 779\/26\u2019s Burgas Bay plots, or that treated the southern coast as empty because 768\/26 is a Kaliakra wreck, has not budgeted 42-09.2N 027-58.6E.<\/p>\n

A drifting tank with a south set and no printed radius is a lookout, radar, CPA and night-unlit problem before it is a cargo-class rewrite. 784\/26 does not say the tank is lit, marked, empty, gas-free, or under tow. It does not say whether the object is a tank container, an independent cistern, or a piece of ship\u2019s equipment. BTA\u2019s \u201cempty tanker\u201d colour is a wire reading, not a hydrographic finding. BMP lookout and company night-orders remain the working industry pack; 784\/26 does not reprint them and does not order a deviation around a published circle. Log the NAVIM number, the 2 November date, the 0830 UTC clock, the east-of-Ahtopol water, the 42-09.2N 027-58.6E plot, the tank object class, the south set, and the increased-caution line. Do not log Contship Jet, IMO 9348625, Christmas decorations, an empty finding, a two-kilometre BTA offset, SeaLagom\u2019s 42-02.20N, or a keep-clear radius that the notice does not print.<\/p>\n

The missing radius, DG class, pollution and cancel lines are the practical damage watch, not a completed all-clear. Next-port authorities and harbour masters at Burgas, Varna and the Turkish approaches will want a written account of objects sighted that 784\/26 does not contain. Charterers and P&I will now ask whether the ship was east of Ahtopol after 0830 UTC on 2 November, whether it reported, and whether it was following 775\/26. They will not be answered by Monday\u2019s Burgas four-container watch, by Thursday\u2019s Kaliakra wreck, or by a BTA headline that the object is Contship cargo. Sightings of the tank, of other unlit objects, of pollution, or of a second plot go to MRCC Varna \/ VTMIS and to the company security officer. Registering a 775\/26 SP e-mail is not a substitute for a sighting report.<\/p>\n

Keep the dedicated files on their own lines. 779\/26 remains Monday morning\u2019s dedicated four-container watch east of Burgas Bay. 780\/26 and 781\/26 remain wrap on that file. 768\/26 remains Contship Jet sunk at 43-07.80N 028-45.36E. 766\/26 remains Khoryv five-cable east of Shabla. 775\/26 remains the two-hour territorial-sea e-mail. 776\/26 remains the Galata diving box 3\u20135 November. 777\/26 remains cutter 331 in Burgas Bay 3\u20136 November. 93\/26 remains the standing KAIROS five-cable wrap. ARN 162\/2026 remains self-cancelled. 786\/26, 787\/26 and 788\/26 remain wrap on this morning\u2019s 784\/26. Do not recast 3 November morning as a Contship naming, as 779\/26 filed again, as a wreck-move of 768\/26, or as a closed southern-coast watch.<\/p>\n

What Operators Should Note<\/h2>\n