Second Black Sea drone strike sinks HS Dignity; 11 sailors missing

Two commercial ships were struck by drones off Bulgaria on October 13. One sank and 11 sailors remain missing. A correction to the first reports is now clear: the sunken vessel was HS Dignity, not Azov Concord. Maritime.bg identified the wreck as HS Dignity (IMO 9545912), a Guinea-Bissau-flagged cargo ship that went down east of Krapets. Five of its 16 crew members have been rescued; the search for the other 11 is continuing. AP also identifies the ship as Dignity. Early Bulgarian reports had named Azov Concord, but that vessel (IMO 9387748) took four survivors aboard. The fifth was picked up by the Danish-flagged Skandi Asserter. The corrected identification matters because reports of two more people aboard were based on the initial mix-up, not a confirmed larger crew. The other ship, Malta-flagged Chelsea 3, was hit about 18 nautical miles east of Byala. Its 15 crew members—seven Ukrainians and eight Azerbaijanis—were evacuated. Bulgaria’s public broadcaster BNT says eight were injured: three were hospitalized, including two with second-degree burns and one with a mild head injury; none was in life-threatening condition. Five others were examined and released. Chelsea 3 was damaged but remained afloat. The attacks took place in Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone, outside its 12-nautical-mile territorial sea, and came a week after separate strikes on ships farther offshore. Chelsea 3’s crew reported that three aerial drones hit their vessel. Who launched them has not been established publicly: Bulgaria says it lacks conclusive evidence, while claims by Ukraine and Russia’s suggestion of possible third-party involvement remain competing statements, not findings. Bulgarian authorities are continuing the search and investigation. The government has asked the EU and NATO for support and plans talks with Romania and Türkiye on protecting Black Sea shipping. No pollution from the wreck had been reported in the latest maritime update; the cause and origin of the strikes remain under investigation. The correction and rescue details are reported by [Maritime.bg](https://www.maritime.bg/155806/), [AP](https://apnews.com/article/bulgaria-black-sea-drones-ships-7dfef251fb7d47a717f0d600873dbf5b) and [BNT](https://bntnews.bg/news/black-sea-drone-attacks-all-crew-members-of-39chelsea-3-39-rescued-1416804news.html). ~worldnews ~russia ~ukraine