Carrying 75 Crew, Romanian Navy Ship Hits Mine Drifting in the Black Sea

Illustration of a marine mine. (Wikimedia Commons/Andre Kaur)

JAKARTA - The mines that drifted in the Black Sea and have become a concern since the Russian invasion of Ukraine have again hit Navy ships sailing in the region.

This time, it was the turn of a Romanian Navy dredge to hit a drift mine it was trying to defuse in bad weather on Thursday.

Luckily, 75 crew members who were on board when the explosion occurred were not injured, according to the country's defense ministry.

Sea mines are known to have started floating in the Black Sea after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. Romanian, Bulgarian and Turkish military dive teams have been trying to defuse mines drifting in their waters.

The ministry said the ship was alerted about a mine drifting about 25 nautical miles northeast of the Romanian Black Sea port of Constanta.

Before being tamed, the sea mine hit the ship due to strong winds and waves in the Black Sea at that time.

"There were no casualties or injuries following the explosion, 75 soldiers on board were not in danger, the ship's buoyancy was not affected and there was no major damage to the ship," the ministry said in a statement, reported Reuters on September 9.

The Black Sea is very important for shipping grain, oil and petroleum products. Bulgaria, Romania, Georgia, Turkey, as well as Ukraine and Russia share territory in the sea.

Since the war began, Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria, and Ukraine have destroyed 28 mines in the waters west of the Black Sea, the ministry said.