Greek Ship En Route From Israel To Romania With 421 Containers Sinks After Drone Attack

A Greek Container Ship became the latest target of a drone attack in the western Black Sea, raising concerns about the spillover of the Russia-Ukraine War across the region.

Romania and Bulgaria are urging the international community to step up and provide additional security off their coasts to prevent more such incidents.

The vessel was reportedly sailing from Israel’s Port of Haifa to Romania’s Port of Constanta when a high-speed unmanned surface vessel rammed into it, causing an explosion, after which it sank.

The CONTSHIP JET was carrying 421 shipping containers filled with lithium-ion batteries, corrosive chemicals, acids and industrial parts. Authorities have found no signs of pollution in the vicinity of Bulgaria’s Exclusive Economic Zone, where the attack took place.

The vessel had a crew of 14 Filipinos and 4 Ukrainians, all of whom were rescued and taken to the Port of Varna in Bulgaria.

Video footage of the attack has been circulating on some social media channels and has also been verified by a few international media outlets.

It seems to have been filmed on a hand-held device by a crew member and showed a drone boat approaching the vessel, after which an explosion could be seen.

The unmanned vessel was five to six metres long and matte black. Ambrey, a risk assessment company, analysed the video and one of its senior officials, Tomas Alexa, confirmed it was a variant of a Russian drone, probably of Murena-300S Design, that was being controlled remotely.

Government statements mention at least 6 ships attacked off Bulgaria in October, and around 12 seafarers feared dead.

Though it remains unclear who launched these attacks in the above cases, Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev pointed to Russia as the beneficiary of these incidents. On the contrary, Moscow has denied any involvement in these attacks and maintained the same position on the latest attack on the CONTSHIP JET.

A former Navy officer from Ukraine, Andriy Ryzhenko, said that the drone in the video was not from Ukraine. Following the attack on the Greek container ship, the Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, has called for a maritime truce between Moscow and Kyiv.

While speaking at the Greek presidency of the UN Security Council, he said merchant vessels should be allowed to sail freely even during times of war and conflict between countries. He called the targeting of ships and seafarers unacceptable and said that this also increases shipping and insurance costs, which are not advantageous for anyone.