HS Dignity sinks off Bulgaria as search for ten missing crew is called off
The Guinea-Bissau-flagged cargo ship was hit minutes after Chelsea 3; Azov Concord and Scandi Asserter picked up survivors
Bulgaria formally ended the search for the missing crew of the general cargo ship HS Dignity at 15:00 local time on Wednesday 14 October, a day after a drone strike sank the ship about 17 nautical miles east of Krapets on the country's northern Black Sea coast. The Ministry of Transport and Communications said six crew members had been rescued and ten were unaccounted for when the operation was stopped.
The Guinea-Bissau-flagged ship, of 8,642 dwt and built in 2008, was sailing empty from Algeria to the Romanian Danube port of Braila. She was hit early on 13 October, about five minutes after drones struck the Ukrainian-owned Chelsea 3 some 18 nautical miles east of Byala. Survivors from HS Dignity were picked up by two ships nearby, the general cargo ship Azov Concord and Scandi Asserter.
How many were on board?
The figures still differ. The Dobrich regional administration's first count was five rescued and 11 missing. The Syrian Mariners Union said 16 seafarers were on board, 14 Syrians and two Egyptians. The ministry's closing figure is six rescued and ten missing.
The search resumed at 10:30 on Wednesday with a Bulgarian Navy vessel surveying the area. It was suspended at 14:30 after a sudden change in the weather, with north-north-easterly winds gusting to 72 km/h, reduced visibility in precipitation and a sea state of force 5, and terminated half an hour later.
All 15 crew of Chelsea 3, seven Ukrainians and eight Azerbaijanis, were taken off by a Bulgarian patrol boat; five were injured. The 2006-built, Malta-flagged ship had been heading empty to Moldova to load sunflower seeds and was settling by the stern.
What is Bulgaria asking for?
Prime Minister Rumen Radev said there was no conclusive evidence against either side, but that "the logic suggests that the outcome benefits the Russian Federation", and Bulgaria summoned the Russian ambassador. Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov said the situation in the Black Sea was "becoming increasingly complex". Sofia has asked the EU and NATO for help with surveillance of its sea area and airspace and with identifying the source of the drones, has contacted Turkey and Romania, and will raise the attacks at the European Council on 15 and 16 October.
The strikes follow those of 6 October, when the Togo-flagged Alfa Watan sank with ten crew missing and the bulker Able was set on fire. A Bulgarian team that boarded Able on 9 October, about 55 nautical miles north-east of Cape Emine, found no drone fragments. Our report on the Able boarding has the detail. Maritime risk firm Ambrey counted at least 45 merchant ships attacked in the preceding 12 months in eastern Black Sea areas not previously considered high risk.
An earlier report on this site, published on 14 October, named Azov Concord as the ship that sank; the ship that sank was HS Dignity.
This story is part of the Maritime Briefing of 15 October 2026.
