News

The 'Contship Jet', enroute from Haifa to Constanța with 421 containers on board, was hit by three sea drones on Oct 28, 2026, at noon, while sailing off Bulgaria’s northern Black Sea coast. The attack took place approximately 21 nautical miles off the coastal town of Shabla, 16 nautical miles off Cape Kaliakra, which would place it in Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea, but four miles outside the country’s territorial waters. The ship caught fire and developed a list to starboard side, and the 18 crew members - among them 14 Filipinos and four Ukrainians - took to the life rafts. A tanker was also dispatched to provide assistance. Meanwhile, another drone approached over the water, endangering the lives of the sailors. Before the incident, the Navy received a signal from a French Navy's Atlantic maritime patrol aircraft. The aircraft crew initially observed two unmanned aerial vehicles, and then another, which were heading towards several ships north of Cape Kaliakra. It was assumed that the ships would be attacked, the information was immediately disseminated to the Maritime Traffic Management with a request to warn vessels of the danger of a drone attack. The corvette 'Resolute', the SAR ship 'Proteo“ and a 'speedboat with the ship number 223 were sent to the risk zone. The first strike was carried out at around 12:00, followed by two more. After a signal that the crew was starting to leave the container vessel, rescue teams were directed to the site. All 18 sailors were taken aboard the 'Proteo'. During the inspection, it was found that the ship was hit on the starboard side in the waterline area. The vessel remained afloat and continued to drift at the site of the attack. The attacking drones were moving at a speed of about 26 knots. The attack took place within about an hour and was carried out in international waters. The incident was the latest in a series of drone attacks on merchant ships off the coasts of Bulgaria and Romania, and came as the defence ministers of Bulgaria, Romania and Türkiye were meeting on Oct 28 to discuss maritime security in the Black Sea. It was widely believed that Russia was behind the attacks. Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey adopted a joint statement strongly condemning attacks against civilian shipping. The Bulgarian defence minister Stoyanov emphasised the shared responsibility of the three Black Sea countries, all NATO allies, to ensure the safety of maritime transport. The three defence ministers also agreed to organise further meetings in the near future to continue their cooperation. The tanker 'Khoryv' had caught fire after an attack on Oct 23. There were 13 people on board, including 10 Ukrainian and three Azerbaijani citizens. Nine sailors were rescued, one was killed and three remained missing. Other ships attacked during the recent days included the 'Alfa Watan', 'Able', 'Chelsea 3' and 'HS Dignity'. The 'Alfa Watan' and 'Able' were struck inside Bulgaria’s EEZ on Oct 6, 2026, at around 3 a.m. Report with video: https://www.novinite.com/articles/241335/Sea+Drone+Attack+on+CONTSHIP+JET+Captured+on+Video

The Norwegian Safety Investigation Authority has published its findings on Oct 27, 2026, into the death of a crew member aboard the 'Eidsvaag Marin' on Oct 29, 2025. The man was killed while replacing a hydraulic component on the vessel's cargo-handling machinery, while it sailed from Stavanger to Røvær. The investigators found out that disconnecting a hydraulic hose caused the machine's lifting frame and the operator's cab to move backwards, trapping the worker against a hydraulic oil tank. Other crew members attempted to free him, but were unsuccessful. The vessel returned to port of Dusavik, where emergency services released him. He subsequently died from his injuries. The investigation found that the machinery lacked a physical safeguard capable of preventing the uncontrolled movement. Although the manufacturer's operating manual specified a locking device to prevent crushing injuries during maintenance, the component was not included in the standard equipment supplied and was not available aboard the vessel. The investigators also found that Eidsvaag's safety management system did not adequately address the risks associated with hydraulic maintenance. There was no specific procedure, risk assessment or safety analysis for the work. Training was limited and depended heavily on individual crew members, while neither internal audits nor external inspections had identified the shortcomings. The authority also questioned the machinery's design, finding that its arrangement could make the safest maintenance position difficult to access. Following the accident, the Eidsvaag company, specialising in the transportation of fish feed from factories to salmon farms along the coast, ordered locking devices for vessels with similar equipment and introduced stronger training requirements and revised safety procedures. At the time of the accident, it operated 19 vessels, including four fitted with the same type of cargo-handling machinery. The Norwegian Maritime Authority has carried out an inspection, issued an order and announced plans for a safety notice covering vessels fitted with similar machinery. Proposed regulations covering lifting equipment and operations aboard ships were also under consultation, including more specific training requirements for cargo-handling equipment. The investigation did not identify a technical fault in the machinery itself. The Safety Investigation Authority issued no additional safety recommendations, citing the measures already introduced or planned by the operator and maritime authorities. Full report: https://havarikommisjonen.no/Sjofart/Avgitte-rapporter/2026-05

The 'Sara Karin', with nine crew members on board, got its purse seine caught in the propeller amid bad weather in the Barents Sea 50 nautical miles northwest of Bjørnøya and had to be assisted by the Coast Guard on Oct 18, 2026. The patrol vessel 'Bjørnøya', which had been moored behind Bjørnøya with a crew consisting of 24 permanent employees and 35 conscripts, was deployed to assist by the Coastal Administration and took the 'Sara Karin' in tow towards the shore at a speed of 5-6 knots at 8.15 p.m. At 3.30 a.m., the towing connection failed, when the attachment points in the bow of the fishing boat gave way to the forces of the storm. In strong gales with around eight meters wave height, the Coast Guard vessel had to back up close to the casualty to shoot over a new tow line. Three hours later, the tow was finally secured again, and the course was set towards the east side of Bjørnøya. The conditions in the lee of Bjørnøya also presented challenges, with currents and swells from different directions that forced the Coast Guard to go in a continuous figure-eight pattern with the casualty in tow. Several other fishing boats in the area also sought refuge at the island to ride out the storm. On the night of Oct 20, when the storm center passed at its worst, thetowing wire broke once again. The 'Sara Karin' immediately began to drift eastward, out of the lee and towards the open sea with ten-meter waves and wind gusts of up to 60 knots. The casualty was drifting fast, and the margins were extremely small. If there would not have been the shielding from Bjørnøya astern, it could have developed even more worse. Once again, the crew managed to establish a new connection in the demanding conditions. On the way to the mainland, the tow cable broke for the fourth time, but reserve lines were quickly connected from the Coast Guard. North of Nord-Fugløya in Troms, the 'Sara Karin' was finally handed over to a civilian tug, which pulled the vessel the last distance to Hamnes in Lyngen for repairs to the propeller. By then the rescue mission had lasted four days. The response was coordinated via the Maritime Traffic Central Service in Vardø, which was following up on the incident. Report with photos: https://www.nrk.no/tromsogfinnmark/kystvakten-kjempet-i-fire-dogn-i-uvaer-i-barentshavet-for-a-berge-fiskebat-1.18064185

On Oct 9, 2026, at 4.53 p.m. the 'Sunny Faith', enroute to Skikda with 19 crew members on board, went adrift in stormy weather conditions in storm Felicia amid wind speeds of up to 27 m/s, and finally ran aground in the Kaliningrad Region close to the village Yantarni. Officials believed the crew had misjudged the strength and direction of the hurricane-force winds as the storm moved through the area. There was no distress call either. Instead residents watched the vessel punded by the surf, until it firmly sat aground near the tourist town of Yantarny. No pollution was observed, and no one was injured. Once the weather has improved, the port authorities of Kaliningrad would develop salvage plans for the unloaden ship, which had arrived in the bay on Oct 6, in cooperation with the owner. Authorities reported no structural damage, injuries or oil spills to date. Russia’s North-Western Transport Prosecutor’s Office has launched an investigation into maritime safety and environmental compliance following the grounding. The crew was expected to remain on board until tugs have freed the vessel. The captain stated that the conditions were fine, and they would contact the authorities if they required assistance. Further surveys involving divers would probably be needed to determine how to refloat it. The grounding sent crowds of onlookers to the beach the following days, so that even a nearby spa was affected by the masses, and refunded its guests. As of Oct 25, the situation of the ship remained unchanged. In the same storm, the 'Geoizol' platform near Svetlogorsk sustained damage, when the cyclone-force winds caused the platform's wooden deck and all superstructures to break away, followed by the detachment of the floating module and hydraulic supports. The platform drifted in the coastal waters off Svetlogorsk before eventually washing ashore. The platform sustained extensive damage, with losses estimated at over one million rubles. A criminal case was initiated under Part 1 of Article 263 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation: "Violation of safety rules for the operation and movement of maritime transport." Investigators have examined the scene and are establishing the full circumstances of the incident. Initial visual inspections revealed no environmental damage and detected no threat of water pollution. According to the regional government, the platform was not regional property. The asset was currently under seizure as part of the criminal proceedings. Reports with photos and video: https://uz.kursiv.media/en/2026-10-12/storm-grounds-130-metre-cargo-ship-sunny-faith-off-kaliningrad-coast/ https://incidentia.ru/news/sudno-sunny-faith-proshlo-v-opasnoy-2026-10-09 https://m.kaliningradnews.online/fn_1966432.html https://m.kaliningradnews.online/fn_1966382.html https://klops.ru/kaliningrad/2026-10-09/392678-pryamo-na-beregu-ogromnyy-korabl-suhogruz-vyneslo-na-mel-ryadom-s-yantarnym-foto-video https://kgd.ru/news/society/item/119263-k-beregu-yantarnogo-pribilo-gruzovoe-sudno/amp https://meduza.io/en/feature/2026/10/12/after-a-storm-stranded-an-enormous-cargo-ship-off-russia-s-baltic-coast-locals-turn-it-into-a-tourist-attraction https://kgd.ru/news/incident/item/119274-posle-zatopleniya-platformy-geoizola-v-rajone-svetlogorska-vozbudili-ugolovnoe-delo https://www.shipspotting.com/photos/4027773?navList=gallery&category=39&page=1&viewType=normal&sortBy=newest https://www.shipspotting.com/photos/4027772?navList=gallery&category=39&page=1&viewType=normal&sortBy=newest https://www.shipspotting.com/photos/4027771?navList=gallery&category=39&page=1&viewType=normal&sortBy=newest https://www.shipspotting.com/photos/4027770?navList=gallery&category=39&page=1&viewType=normal&sortBy=newest https://www.shipspotting.com/photos/4029178?navList=gallery&category=39&page=1&viewType=normal&sortBy=newest https://www.shipspotting.com/photos/4029177?navList=gallery&category=39&page=1&viewType=normal&sortBy=newest https://www.shipspotting.com/photos/4029176?navList=gallery&category=39&page=1&viewType=normal&sortBy=newest https://www.shipspotting.com/photos/4033613?navList=gallery&category=39&page=1&viewType=normal&sortBy=newest https://www.shipspotting.com/photos/4033614?navList=gallery&category=39&page=1&viewType=normal&sortBy=newest

The 'Le Commandant Charcot' ran aground one meter from the quay in Breivika in Tromsø on the morning of Oct 29, 2026. The ship was scheduled to arrive in Leknes on Oct 30 and in Narvik on the weekend of Oct 31/Nov 1. Photo: https://livecenter.norkon.net/frame/lofotposten/23033/default?p=lc-12726387-23033-lofotposten