Turkish Cargo Ship Hits Mine In Black Sea Possibly Laid By Russia And Suffers Damage

A general cargo vessel reportedly hit a mine in the Black Sea on Thursday.

It happened off the Romanian coast, and the Turkish-flagged ship Kafkametler suffered minor damage to its ballast tank; however, the crew members were safe.

Turkish Cargo Ship Hits Mine — Representation Image

According to the information received by British Maritime Security Company Ambrey, the vessel hit a sea mine around 11 nautical miles north of Sulina, Romania, close to the entrance to the Sulina Canal.

There was an explosion onboard at 920 UTC (GMT), after which the ship dropped anchor in the Danube Channel to assess the damage, Ambrey informed. The ship resumed its sailing at 1210, and no casualties were reported.

The insurers list the Black Sea as a high-risk area due to the floating mines, which cause dangers to navigation.

A government source from Ukraine also confirmed the incident, saying it was probably a World War II mine or could be a landing mine left there last year.

Russia backed out of the Black Sea Grain Deal, allowing Ukraine to ship grain through a safe passageway. Since then, Ukraine has formed a humanitarian corridor for cargo ships, and several ships have left the Ukrainian Black Sea Ports via this corridor since August.

UK Intelligence reported that Russia might use sea mines to target civilian ships in the Black Sea.

Ambrey also said that this incident happened the same day the company told its clients to be careful of the Russian Navy’s likely sea mine deployment in the Black Sea region to prevent the export of Ukrainian grain.

References: reuters, newsbulletin

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