Chelsea-3, the ship hit by drones in the Black Sea, is being towed to the port of Burgas after several days adrift. The tug Aliot and Chelsea-2, a ship with the same owner, set off with it at 8.55pm today. Chelsea-3 had drifted off the Bulgarian coast for several days before crews could get it under control.
This report follows our earlier story on the new operation to tow Chelsea-3 off Lozenets, in which the owner's second ship also takes part.
Crews began work on the tow at about 10.30am. By 2pm Aliot and Chelsea-2 had reached the damaged ship, which lay 12.5 nautical miles south of Cape Maslen Nos and 10.7 nautical miles east of Lozenets. Checks and preparation took nearly seven hours.
The tow became possible after the anchor caught on the seabed and the ship held steady.
An attempt yesterday to take control of the ship stopped because of bad weather. Aliot reached the ship, but the emergency team did not go aboard because the risk to crews was high.
Drones hit Chelsea-3 on Monday, 17 nautical miles east of Byala. All 15 crew members were rescued.
The ship sails under the Maltese flag. It was travelling empty from Giresun in Turkey to Giurgiulești in Moldova.