Bulgarian authorities have called off the search and rescue operation after confirming there were no survivors from a drone attack that sank a ship off the country's coast, according to information released Wednesday.
Two commercial vessels were struck by drones early Tuesday, amid a surge in attacks on shipping in the Black Sea as the Russia-Ukraine war escalates. One vessel caught fire, while the other sank.
"There is no trace of the sailors," Rumen Nikolov, head of the National Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Center, told reporters Wednesday.
He said the search was suspended late Tuesday and would not resume.
Eighteen crew members from Turkey and India were rescued from the burning vessel, but the crew of the sunken ship remain missing.
Authorities have not disclosed the number of missing, but the specialized outlet Maritime.bg reported that the sunken vessel had 10 people on board.
Nikolov said the incident occurred in the so-called "responsible search and rescue area," which lies outside Bulgaria's territorial waters — the zone extending 12 nautical miles from the coast.
"What was found from the sunken ship includes an overturned lifeboat, three life rafts, and pieces of the vessel's equipment floating on the surface," he said.
When asked whether any drone debris had been recovered, Nikolov replied: "I have no information about drone debris."
Prime Minister Rumen Radev described the attack as "absolutely unacceptable."
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also condemned the incident.
Bulgarian authorities said the origin of the drones has not yet been determined.
According to Nikolov, the distress beacon signal from the sunken vessel was received at 2:54 a.m. Tuesday (23:54 GMT Monday), while the distress signal from the other vessel was received at 3:23 a.m. (0:23 GMT).
According to the Equasis shipping database, both commercial vessels are managed by companies headquartered in Turkey.
The two ships were struck about 80 nautical miles (150 km) east of the Bulgarian coastal town of Byala.
The attacks came a day after another vessel caught fire and sank off Romania on Monday, killing two people. Ukraine blamed Russia for that drone attack.
