The accuracy with which drones hit two merchant ships in the Black Sea indicates the likely use of artificial intelligence to recognize and guide them to the target, a software engineer said. According to him, such precision can hardly be explained solely by pre-set coordinates, especially in moving ships and sea conditions.
The claim remains an expert assessment, not an established fact. Bulgarian authorities have not confirmed that there was an artificial intelligence system in the drones. Their origin and technology will require debris, navigation data or an admission of responsibility by the perpetrator.
Both ships were hit 128 kilometers from the coast
The attack took place on October 6 at around 3:00 a.m. in Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone, approximately 128 kilometers from the coast. The ship ALFA WATAN, flying the flag of Togo, was severely damaged and sank. The other vessel, ABLE, flying the flag of Palau, was engulfed in fire.
18 crew members were evacuated from the ABLE. Two sailors were seriously injured and transported to a hospital in Varna. According to Bulgarian authorities, the attack was carried out with a combination of air and sea drones.
The origin of the drones has not yet been established
Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov said he could not confirm whether the drones were Russian or Ukrainian. "We need to find the necessary debris from the drones or one of the parties must take responsibility," he said, quoted by the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency.
Stoyanov described the incident as a targeted attack on merchant ships. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky blamed Russia and said the strikes were carried out with Russian air and sea drones. Moscow has not claimed responsibility for the attack.
According to “Deutsche Welle“, Bulgarian authorities have requested satellite data from the European Union. The European Maritime Safety Agency has offered to examine wreckage from the sunken ship, if any are found. Until these actions are completed, there is no official confirmation of either the origin of the drones or the presence of artificial intelligence in their systems.
According to the software engineer, the use of artificial intelligence would mean that the drones could process images and adjust their course to the movement of the ships. However, this does not exclude remote control or a predetermined trajectory. The accuracy of the hits alone is not enough to prove who was operating the devices and what software was used.
Sources: apnews.com, bta.bg, amp.dw.com