{
 "publisher": "DroneLedger",
 "site": "https://droneincidents.com",
 "generated": "2026-10-13T09:47:02+00:00",
 "release": "20261013T094702325757-b25b7c",
 "license": {
  "name": "CC BY 4.0",
  "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "attribution": "DroneLedger (droneincidents.com)",
  "excludes": "Quoted source passages and linked articles remain the copyright of their publishers; they are included as short quotations for verification. Fonts (SIL OFL) and map data (Natural Earth, public domain) keep their own terms. City and region names in automatically published dossiers are checked against GeoNames (geonames.org, CC BY 4.0). Drone drawings and animations are schematic illustrations of a type, not evidence about any incident."
 },
 "evidenceNote": "Each dossier separates three claims: drone presence, impact and attribution, each with its own evidence state and supporting sources. 'reported' means a source describes the claim without sufficient identification evidence; claims by parties to a conflict are never 'confirmed' on their own. Counts reflect dossiers in this curated archive, not all incidents worldwide.",
 "locationNote": "lat/lon are the dossier's own approximate coordinates (see locationPrecision) and are empty when the incident location is unknown. referencePoint {lat, lon, level, name} is a display reference only: a fixed point in the named city (GeoNames), region (its administrative seat), sea or country (Natural Earth label point), derived at build time. It is not a geolocation, not an estimate of the incident location and may change when the dossier's place becomes more precise: reference point; incident location unknown.",
 "howToCite": "Cite the dossier URL and revision, e.g. DroneLedger, “Drones strike cargo ship Chelsea 3 off Byala, Bulgaria; crew of 15 rescued”, dossier chelsea-3-drone-strike-off-byala-2026-10-13, revision 1, updated 2026-10-13. https://droneincidents.com/incident/chelsea-3-drone-strike-off-byala-2026-10-13/",
 "incident": {
  "id": "chelsea-3-drone-strike-off-byala-2026-10-13",
  "title": "Drones strike cargo ship Chelsea 3 off Byala, Bulgaria; crew of 15 rescued",
  "place": "Black Sea, about 18 nautical miles east of Byala (Bulgarian exclusive economic zone)",
  "country": "Bulgaria",
  "countryCode": "BG",
  "date": "2026-10-13",
  "dateKind": "event",
  "scope": "single",
  "category": "maritime",
  "droneStatus": "confirmed",
  "impactStatus": "confirmed",
  "attributionStatus": "none",
  "lat": 42.87,
  "lon": 28.3,
  "locationPrecision": "region",
  "summary": "Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev said the Maltese-flagged cargo ship Chelsea 3 was hit by three aerial drones about 18 nautical miles east of Byala, in Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea, during the night of 12 to 13 October 2026. All 15 crew members were rescued.",
  "impact": "The Border Police rescued all 15 crew members (seven Ukrainian and eight Azerbaijani nationals) and took them to Varna; five received treatment for minor injuries, according to BTA and BNT, while Sega reports six hurt, mostly with light burns. The ship, sailing empty from Giresun (Türkiye) to Giurgiulești (Moldova), stayed afloat and was at anchor.",
  "evidence": "Drone involvement rests on the statement of Bulgaria's prime minister, whose country is not a party to the war, and on the crew, who described three strikes on the deck and side. The national news agency BTA and the public broadcaster BNT report the statement; Sega adds the ship's route and management. A distress signal reached Bulgaria's maritime rescue centre at about 01:30 (Sega: 01:57). Sources give the distance as 15 or 18 nautical miles off Byala.",
  "unknown": "Who launched the drones and from where is not established. The exact time of the strike is not given in the cited sources.",
  "attribution": "Not established. Radev said there was no solid, clear evidence against any party, while arguing that the outcome benefits the Russian Federation; he said he would summon Russia's ambassador for talks.",
  "sources": [
   {
    "label": "BTA: Prime Minister Rumen Radev reports new drone attacks on ships in the Black Sea",
    "url": "https://www.bta.bg/bg/news/bulgaria/1223282-premierat-rumen-radev-saobshti-za-novi-ataki-s-dronove-sreshtu-korabi-v-cherno-m",
    "published": "2026-10-13",
    "family": "bulgarian-government"
   },
   {
    "label": "BNT News: Rumen Radev: a second ship was hit and sank 17 miles east of Krapets",
    "url": "https://bntnews.bg/news/rumen-radev-ima-udaren-i-vtori-korab-koito-e-potanal-na-17-mili-iztochno-ot-krapec-1416731news.html",
    "published": "2026-10-13",
    "family": "bulgarian-government"
   },
   {
    "label": "Sega: Drones hit ships off Byala and Krapets",
    "url": "https://www.segabg.com/hot/category-bulgaria/dronove-udariha-korabi-kray-byala-i-krapec",
    "published": "2026-10-13",
    "family": "sega"
   }
  ],
  "timeline": [
   {
    "date": "2026-10-13",
    "text": "A distress signal from the Chelsea 3, about 18 nautical miles east of Byala, reached Bulgaria's maritime rescue centre at about 01:30; the Border Police rescued the crew of 15 and took them to Varna.",
    "source": 1
   },
   {
    "date": "2026-10-13",
    "text": "Prime Minister Radev called the attacks absolutely unacceptable, convened the Security Council of the Council of Ministers and said he would summon the Russian ambassador.",
    "source": 0
   }
  ],
  "droneStatusSources": [
   0,
   1,
   2
  ],
  "impactStatusSources": [
   0,
   1,
   2
  ],
  "attributionSources": [],
  "droneTypes": [],
  "claims": [],
  "review": "editor",
  "checkedAt": "2026-10-13",
  "autoCheckedAt": null,
  "updatedAt": "2026-10-13",
  "revision": 1,
  "corroboration": "curated",
  "referencePoint": null,
  "labels": {
   "category": "Maritime attack",
   "droneStatus": "Confirmed",
   "impactStatus": "Confirmed",
   "attributionStatus": "Not established"
  },
  "url": "https://droneincidents.com/incident/chelsea-3-drone-strike-off-byala-2026-10-13/",
  "citation": "DroneLedger, “Drones strike cargo ship Chelsea 3 off Byala, Bulgaria; crew of 15 rescued”, dossier chelsea-3-drone-strike-off-byala-2026-10-13, revision 1, updated 2026-10-13. https://droneincidents.com/incident/chelsea-3-drone-strike-off-byala-2026-10-13/",
  "history": [
   {
    "revision": 1,
    "date": "2026-10-13",
    "at": "2026-10-13T06:46:36.873+00:00",
    "note": "Curated dossier created after checking the cited sources line by line."
   }
  ]
 }
}