Liberia-flagged container ship, chartered by Israeli shipping company ZIM Integrated Shipping Services, has reportedly sunk after being struck by naval drones off the coast of Bulgaria in Black Sea.
The vessel, Contship Jet, was sailing from Israel's Haifa port to Constanta in Romania, carrying 421 containers when it was hit about 17 nautical miles east of Cape Kaliakra on Wednesday, according to Bulgaria's Ministry of Transport and Communications press release on Wednesday.
All 18 crew members were safely rescued following a coordinated operation involving Bulgarian authorities.
The crew was taken to Varna.
In a customer notice on Wednesday, ZIM said the vessel's owners had confirmed that "all crew members were safely evacuated".
"The situation of the vessel and cargo is being assessed," the company said, adding that it was contacting affected customers.
The Bulgarian authorities said the distress signal was received at 12:01 local time, with the crew abandoning the vessel 12 minutes later.
The ship subsequently sank, according to Reuters.
