The Liberia-flagged cargo ship EMIL, which was hit by a Russian drone near Odessa on August 5, is drifting in the Black Sea without a crew and is currently about 40 nautical miles east of Bulgaria’s Cape Shabla.
Bulgarian Air Force and Navy personnel carried out an operation on October 4 to locate the vessel and assess its condition, according to Bulgarian media outlet Pro News Dobrich.
Two Cougar helicopters and Bulgarian Navy specialists took part in the operation, which lasted from 11:30 a.m. to 1:10 p.m.
The vessel was located around 40 nautical miles east of Cape Shabla. It has no crew on board and is unable to manoeuvre.
EMIL was struck by a Russian drone in the Odessa area on August 5. A fire broke out on board following the strike, while the vessel’s technical systems failed, leaving it unable to manoeuvre. The crew was forced to abandon the ship.
Since then, EMIL has been drifting through Romania’s exclusive economic zone.
Driven south by sea currents, the unmanned vessel is now moving towards Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone.
