French patrol plane spots sea drones before strike on ship off Bulgaria

A French Navy Atlantique 2 maritime patrol aircraft spotted three Russian uncrewed surface vessels heading for a civilian container ship in the Black Sea on Oct. 28 and raised the alarm, helping Bulgarian naval forces rescue all 18 crew members after the drones struck, the French military said in a post.

The Liberian-flagged container ship Contship Jet was hit about 16 nautical miles east of Cape Kaliakra, inside Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone but outside its territorial waters, the Bulgarian Navy said. The Greek-managed ship was sailing from Haifa, Israel, to Constanța, Romania, with 421 containers, some carrying fuel and other hazardous cargo. It sank the following day, Bulgaria’s maritime administration said.

The French military said the Atlantique 2, flying a routine maritime surveillance mission, detected the threat and warned the ship’s crew, passed the vessel’s position to Bulgarian authorities, helped coordinate the rescue with Bulgarian naval forces and alerted other ships in the area.

Photos released by the French military also show the Bulgarian Navy corvette Reshitelni, hull number 13, one of the ships sent to the scene.

Bulgarian Navy Pauk-class corvette

Bulgarian Navy commander Rear Adm. Kiril Mihaylov said the French crew first saw two uncrewed boats and then a third, all heading west toward several merchant ships crossing the area, Bulgarian news site Dnes.bg reported. The first strike hit the Contship Jet at exactly noon, followed by two more, and he said the third drone was destroyed with small-arms fire. The open-source account GeoInsider said the aircraft spotted the drones about 40 minutes before they reached the ship, a figure Bulgarian and French officials have not confirmed.

The drones were traveling at about 26 knots (48 km/h), and the Bulgarian Navy said it had no forces able to react that quickly or any technical means to destroy them before impact, 24 Chasa reported. Mihaylov said the early warning likely helped save the crew. The corvette Reshitelni, the rescue ship Proteo and fast boat 223 joined the search, and all 18 sailors, 14 Filipinos and four Ukrainians, were taken aboard the Proteo and brought to Varna without injuries.

The civilian vessel Conship Jet lists in the Black Sea after being targeted by surface drones during an incident monitored by a French Navy Atlantique 2.

The Atlantique 2 is a twin-turboprop patrol aircraft that the French Navy uses to hunt submarines and watch surface shipping over long distances. France deployed the aircraft to Constanța earlier this month to support search and rescue after the attacks began, while a U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon started patrolling the Black Sea at Bulgaria’s request. Their job is to detect and track threats; the decision to intercept rests with the coastal state, and the attack took place in waters patrolled by Bulgaria.

The strike was the fifth drone attack in Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone this month, the Associated Press reported. On Oct. 6, sea and aerial drones hit two Turkish-owned ships about 70 nautical miles east of Byala, sinking one. On Oct. 13, drones struck two more cargo ships off Bulgaria, damaging the Ukrainian-owned Chelsea 3 and sinking a second vessel with 11 crew missing. On Oct. 23, a cargo ship capsized and sank off Romania after a drone strike, killing one sailor, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen blamed Russia.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev told parliament earlier this month that “the logic points” toward Russia but that Bulgaria cannot prove it. The Bulgarian Navy commander declined to say whether the drones’ course indicated where they came from or whether debris had been recovered.

The attack came as the defense ministers of Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey met in Sofia. The three NATO countries condemned the attacks on merchant shipping and agreed to strengthen intelligence sharing, early warning and coordination in the Black Sea, but did not announce new patrols or air defense measures.