Photos by Borislav Kamilov
Over the weekend, the Black Sea was blessed by a run of surf – not a sentence you hear that often. But Bulgaria and Romania copped the brunt of it, with a couple playful waves in the mix for surfers out that way.
Perhaps more unexpected, is those surfers were taking off in front of a stricken Russian ship called the Kairos, which had been hit by Ukrainian naval drones towards the end of last month, near the Turkish coast. The vessel was supposedly under tow by a Turkish-flagged tugboat, but the tow mission was abandoned and left to drift into Bulgarian waters.
Ivo Taralezhkov and some little moments of flare under an oppressive amount of stricken steel.
It’s understood the Kairos is part of Russia’s shadow fleet, used to bypass western sanctions on Russian oil. The ship’s registration is disputed, with various reports listing it as Gambian, Panamanian, or unknown.
Anyway, the local Bulgarian crew got amongst it. Photographer Borislav Kamilov was out there shooting. “We were riding one of the better swells of the season for three days a bit further north on some different spots that don’t get waves very often,” he told Wavelength. “At the end of the third day, I decided to go to Ahtopol, because I knew we would score some nice waves there and also I wanted to check the ship with my own eyes.
Safety line, the crew are winched to freedom.
“We woke up early in the morning by the sight of some decent waves and also, this huge half-burnt ship, which looked kind of menacing just outside the bay. Although the waves were looking epic, I wanted to capture a few photos of this surrealistic moment, so I grabbed my camera and told my friend, Ivo Taralezhkov, to jump into the water, so I could get some photos. 10 minutes later, a navy helicopter and started rescuing 4 guys from the crew of the ship. I’ve seen many different strange things while surfing Ahtopol, but never seen this.”
As for what’s next, Borislav hopes the ship doesn’t cause a bit of a disaster. “Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, we are seeing more and more threats for our small sea, and especially for our coastline, since we are positioned further south from Ukraine and Russia, and the NE winds are the most common in this region,” he said.
Ivo, with a shampooing.
“For the past few years broken dam-walls in Ukraine, has spilled polluted waters into the sea, floating mines showing up on the shore, torpedoes and drones being washed up on many Bulgarian beaches and many more. The Black Sea is small and very fragile, so every single one of those incidents could severely impact the entire region or even the entire sea.”
It’s understood Bulgarian officials are still seeking answers bout the future of the Kairos, but its crew have since been heli-lifted to safety.
You’d be in there too.
