The container ship that was struck by three maritime drones sank around midnight on Wednesday evening 21 nautical miles southeast of Shabla, east of Cape Kaliakra, Varna Regional Administration confirmed, according to Traffic Control and the Maritime Administration Executive Agency. The vessel, loaded with lithium‑ion batteries, left the crew – 18 crew members – rescued and brought to Varna. Teams from the Defence Ministry collected samples from two locations in Bulgarian territorial waters and reported no visible signs of pollution.
On Thursday, the Environment and Water Ministry said teams from the Black Sea Basin Directorate and the Executive Environment Agency will collect seawater samples at five coastal locations: Durankulak, Shabla, Cape Kaliakra, Byala and Sozopol. The samples will be tested for petroleum products, polychlorinated biphenyls and metals, as well as other physicochemical indicators of water quality. They will be analysed at the Executive Environment Agency's regional laboratories in Varna and Burgas.
Additional sampling is planned in the area surrounding the ship, with the results to be analysed by the agency's regional laboratories. The purpose is to establish whether pollution is present and whether changes in seawater quality can be detected that are not visible from the surface. The Environment and Water Ministry and the competent authorities are continuing inspections and monitoring, and the results will be made public.
