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Bulgaria’s military reports it is monitoring the movements of an abandoned bulker that is drifting in the Black Sea. A month after the vessel was struck near Ukraine, it reappeared earlier this week off the coast of Bulgaria, raising concerns over its movement.
The German-owned bulker Emil (175,463 dwt) has been adrift since August 5, when the crew abandoned the ship approximately 21 nautical miles from the Greater Odesa area. The vessel, which was built in 2012 and is 292 meters (958 feet) in length, was registered in Liberia. It was struck by a Russian drone, which caused a fire and the failure of technical systems. The crew abandoned the vessel, with reports that Russia again struck the ship, but it has remained afloat.
The bulker has been drifting in a southwesterly direction, with reports indicating it had been in Romania’s region of the Black Sea. On October 4, Bulgaria determined it had drifted into its EEZ. The Air Force and Navy conducted reconnaissance. The report placed the ship approximately 40 nautical miles east of Cape Shabla in northeast Bulgaria just south of the Romanian border.
FULL ARTICLE AVAILABLE HERE: maritime-executive.com
