The 15-man crew of the Maltese cargo ship Chelsea-3 was rescued overnight on 13 October by a border police vessel, the Interior Ministry said. Chelsea-3 was in distress about 16 nautical miles east of Byala. All the sailors are alive and are now ashore.
This story follows our earlier report about two ships hit by drones near Bulgarian waters, one of which sank.
The distress call reached the Regional Coordination Centre of the Border Police in Burgas at about 01:15. The Maritime Rescue and Coordination Centre in Varna kept in contact with the stricken ship.
At 02:45 the border police vessel 514 Burgas, with a crew of 9, left the port of Varna. The sea was running above force 3. Despite the storm, the vessel reached Chelsea-3, which was listing slightly, and took the whole crew on board. The last sailors crossed over at 04:43.
At 07:15 they came ashore. Several of them are injured and received medical help.
A second call reached the border police at the same hour, about a spot some 13 nautical miles east of Cape Shabla. There, two merchant ships pulled a total of five people out of the sea. They came from a cargo ship flying the flag of Guinea-Bissau, which was sailing from Algeria to Braila with 16 crew.
Early reports say the rescued men are Syrians and Egyptians. The border police vessels Burgas and Kavarna have gone to the area.