Black Sea – cooperation for neutralizing naval mines in the Black Sea

Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey have created a joint task force to neutralized naval mines adrift in the Black Sea

Bogdan Matei, 02.07.2024, 14:00

The invasion of Ukraine by the Russian troops has been causing collateral damage. In almost two years and a half of war, both sides have resorted to the installation of naval mines around their Black Sea ports in order to prevent the other side from attacking them. Many of these mines have left the defensive networks conceived by Ukrainian and Russian strategists and are now adrift around the Black Sea posing a real threat to civilian vessels crossing it.

In December 2023, a Panamanian ship loaded with Ukrainian grain hit a naval mine, which Kyiv says was of Russian origin, and two sailors were wounded in the incident. In October a Turkish cargo ship was slightly damaged after running into one such mine close to Romania’s coasts.

The presence of these mines floating around the Black Sea has prevented the Romanian fishermen from taking to the sea and that led to a slump in the local fish harvest.

According to journalists, restaurants in the area are now mainly relying on imported fish while cruise boats coming down the Danube are now cutting short their trips as neither crew members nor tourists are daring to cross the Black Sea for fear of hitting such a mine.

So, riparian countries and also NATO allies, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey have decided to set up a joint task force for cleaning the Black Sea of mines and ensuring in this way the safety of the maritime transport, including for the vessels loaded with Ukrainian grain and bound for the world markets.

Since the Russian invasion in February 2022, the naval forces of these three countries have discovered and destroyed numerous naval mines adrift in the Black Sea. But now they are doing it in a coordinated manner.

During a ceremony staged in Istanbul, Turkey, Romanian vice-admiral Mihai Panait has given assurances the joint initiative of the three countries is crucial in combating the threat posed by these drifting mines and in ensuring the safety of sea traffic.

The main goal of the MCM Black Sea naval group is to ensure the safety of traffic on the Black Sea through activities of monitoring, reconnaissance and the neutralization of these naval mines, as well as through related search & rescue operations at sea.

Until July 16, the aforementioned naval group will be operational in the national maritime spaces of the three countries.

The ships are going to get involved in joint drills, recon and surveillance missions, in removing naval mines and improving interoperability. The command of the operative MCM Black Sea group will be assured in the following six months by Turkey and taken over in the first half of the next year by the Bulgarian partners. Romania will take over command in the second half of 2025.

(bill)