At the moment, no new operations by the Navy or the Air Force are planned in the area of the attack on the two merchant ships in the Black Sea. This was stated by Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov to journalists, quoted by Nova TV.
According to him, the next actions must be coordinated by the Ministry of Transport. The department is expected to establish contact with organizations that can provide a water drone to inspect the sunken ship.
The attack was carried out with drones in Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone. One of the merchant ships sank, while the other remained above the water. At the initial incident, the vessels were located about 70 nautical miles from the Bulgarian coast, east of Cape Sveti Atanas and Byala.
Stoyanov announced that Bulgaria will make a new request to NATO to strengthen the surveillance of the airspace with radar equipment. The first request was made after the drone crash near Kardam, but no response has been received so far.
„We have only made a request from NATO since the drone crash near Kardam. We requested to strengthen the surveillance of our airspace with radar equipment in order to have situational awareness. At the moment, we have not received a response from them, so we will make a new request“, said Dimitar Stoyanov.The minister specified that the Ministry of Defense has not contacted Romania and Turkey on the issue of shipping security. According to him, the department is responsible for the territorial sea, while the economic zone is international waters.
„We are responsible for the territorial sea. In the economic zone, these are international waters“, Stoyanov said.At the moment, no satellite images have been provided that could help in the survey of the area. The origin of the drones used in the attack on the two ships has also not been officially established.