Bulgaria has halted the search operation following a drone attack on vessels off its coast, which caused one vessel to sink. No traces of its crew members were found, while 16 sailors from the second vessel were rescued. Nova reports this, citing Vice Admiral Rumen Nikolov of the Executive Agency for Maritime Administration, UNN writes.
Details
It is reported that the operation to search for the crew was halted on the evening of October 6 and is not planned to resume.
There are no traces of the crew members from the first vessel, and there will be none. There is also no information about the drones' wreckage. A boat, three life rafts, and parts of the ship's equipment were found
He added that the incident occurred in the so-called "search and rescue responsibility zone," rather than in the country's territorial waters, which extend up to 12 nautical miles from the coast.
The second vessel, which was attacked by drones in the same area, was damaged, but its crew managed to evacuate with the assistance of Bulgarian military personnel.
Recall
On October 6, two merchant vessels were attacked by drones in Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea. One of them sank, while a fire broke out on the other.