In brief
The 421‑container ship CONTSHIP JET was struck by three maritime drones 21 nautical miles southeast of Shabla on October 28, 2026, and sunk at midnight. All 18 crew, 14 Filipinos and four Ukrainians, were rescued by Varna authorities. Bulgarian officials are collecting seawater samples at five Black Sea coastal sites to investigate any environmental impact.
The container ship CONTSHIP JET was struck by three maritime drones east of Cape Kaliakra on Wednesday, 28 October 2026, and sank around midnight, Varna Regional Administration officials announced. All 18 crew members were rescued and taken to Varna, the report said.
Varna authorities have confirmed the incident with the Maritime Administration Executive Agency, which inspected the sunken vessel. BTA reported that the ship carried 421 containers, including light fuel oil (gas oil) and other hazardous cargo; 20 containers fell overboard.
While the Maritime Administration stated that the light fuel oil is expected to evaporate quickly and is unlikely to reach the Bulgarian coast, the BTA piece on the same day noted that the ship’s cargo also included lithium‑ion batteries. The cargo composition remains a point of discrepancy between the two reports.
Seawater sampling is underway. Defence Ministry teams collected samples from two locations in Bulgarian territorial waters and saw no visible pollution signs, BTA recorded. On Thursday, the Black Sea Basin Directorate and the Executive Environment Agency will sample five coastal sites—Durankulak, Shabla, Cape Kaliakra, Byala, and Sozopol—testing for petroleum products, polychlorinated biphenyls, metals, and other physicochemical indicators, according to the Environment and Water Ministry.
Both authorities emphasized that no significant adverse effects on the marine environment or coastline were expected at this stage, but they will continue continuous monitoring and will publish the seawater analysis results once available.
