Defence Minister: Bulgarian aviation activity along Black Sea coast being stepped up

There will be much more activity of Bulgarian aviation along the Black Sea coast, Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov told reporters on October 21, in a statement that follows attacks on merchant ships off the Bulgarian coast.

“This should not worry Bulgarian citizens – we are conducting intensive surveillance over Bulgaria’s territorial waters,” Stoyanov said.

Flights have already been carried out with another – third – unmanned system for monitoring Bulgarian territorial waters in the Black Sea and by the end of the week it will be deployed in the region, he said.

“We already have a reconnaissance aircraft,”Stoyanov said, in a reference to the US Navy Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft that Nato has deployed in the Black Sea region.

In response to a question about access to the Chelsea – 3 cargo ship, with reporters barred from the port of Bourgas where the vessel is berthed and the area cordoned off by Border Police, Stoyanov said that pre-trial proceedings are being conducted by the Military Prosecutor’s Office.

“An inspection is being carried out, debris from unmanned aerial vehicles is being searched for. Let the activities be completed and then there may be more information,” Stoyanov said.

“These remains, which were commented on yesterday, are yet to be identified, whether they are parts of a ship, a drone or something else. In an explosion, there are always remains of a projectile, or debris from the ship itself,” he pointed out.

After the inspection is completed, negotiations will begin with the Ukrainian shipowner for the relocation of the vessel, which was pierced in three places by drones, to a shipyard in Bourgas.

(Archive photo: kontrax.bg)