Naval drones sink the container ship Contship Jet off Bulgaria; all 18 crew rescued

At about noon on 28 October 2026 three uncrewed surface drones struck the Liberia-flagged, Greek-managed container ship Contship Jet in Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone, about 17 miles east of Cape Kaliakra near Varna. The ship, carrying 421 containers from Haifa to Constanța, caught fire, listed and sank the same day. The Bulgarian Navy and Border Police rescued all 18 crew, 14 Filipino and 4 Ukrainian, and took them to Varna; a French maritime patrol aircraft had alerted the Navy to a possible drone attack. It is the ninth merchant ship hit in the western Black Sea since early October.

Established by. No state or organisation has formally named the attacker. Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev had told Parliament earlier in October that "the logic points in that direction … The problem is that we cannot prove it" (AP). Russia has not taken responsibility; according to Reuters, Moscow has denied involvement in recent attacks.

Latest. On 28 October 2026 the defence ministers of Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey, meeting in Sofia, called for "an immediate halt to attacks that threaten commercial vessels" and agreed on closer intelligence sharing and early warning (The Maritime Executive).

Link to the war against Ukraine. The attack is part of the campaign of drone strikes on merchant shipping in the western Black Sea during Russia's war against Ukraine; four of the crew were Ukrainian.