Mine Scare In The Black Sea

10 Sep 2022 2 Comments

Mine damage on Musca class minesweeper Lieutenant Dimitrie Nicolescu. Photo: Dobrogea TV

On 8 September 2022, a Romanian ship reported a floating mine approximately 25 nautical miles northeast of Constanta harbour. The mine is believed to be one of the mines laid during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The Romanian Naval Forces deployed Musca class minesweeper Lieutenant Dimitrie Nicolescu to destroy the mine. However, when the minesweeper arrived at the site the weather and sea conditions worsened. With a wind speed of 10 – 12 m/s and wave height of 1.5 – 2 meters, the minesweeper was not able to deploy the RHIB with the EOD team on board. At night the mine swept through the storm and hit the ship on her astern port side.

According to Romanian Naval Forces, the detonation created a small hole, at the water line. The damage appears to be limited though there had been some ingress through the hole. the 75-strong crew on board has not suffered any injuries.

The minesweeper Lieutenant Dimitrie Nicolescu returned to her homeport Constanta with the help of the navy tugs Grozavul and Viteazu, that provided assistance and research against the mines.

Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine 30 mines have been found and destroyed in the Black Sea. Here is the list of them

Date Mines Location Country Action
26.03.2022 1 Anchorage area Türkeli north of Bosphorus Turkey Turkish navy EOD teams dragged the mine to their Exercise area near the northern entrance of the Bosphorus and destroyed it.
28.03.2022 1 Off the shore of İğneada town Turkey Turkish navy EOD teams neutralised the mine in location.
28.03.2022 1 39 nautical miles off the Black Sea, across from Capu Midia Romania Romanian navy EOD teams neutralised the mine in location.
6.04.2022 1 Off the shore of Kefken town Turkey Turkish navy EOD teams neutralised the mine in location.
6.04.2022 1 Crimean shore Russia Mine washed ashore on an unspecified Crimean beach.
30.06.2022 1 27 nautical miles east of the mouth of the Kamchia river Bulgaria Bulgarian naval EOD team neutralised the mine in location.
31.07.2022 1 2 nautical miles off Eforie town Romania Romanian navy EOD teams neutralised the mine in location.
8.09.2022 1 25 nautical miles northeast of Constanta harbour Romania Romanian Navy mine sweeper Lieutenant Dimitrie Nicolescu was damaged when the mine could not be neutralised by EOD teams due to bad weather
1.07.2022 22 Ukrainian coast Ukraine 20 mines were destroyed by Ukrainian forces. Locations and dates are unknown.

As always any corrections or additions to the list above are welcomed.

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Turkish Navy EOD Team Destroys An Old Mine

3 Nov 2018

The deadly catch. Photo: Balıkesir Haber Ajansı

This week a fishing boat operating off the coast of Ayvalık, Balıkesir found a mine in its net.

They have informed the Coast Guard and the harbor master. The old and probably inert mine was brought to the shore on board. A Turkish Navy EOD team was called by the Coast Gaurd. The EOD team brought the mine to an inhabited area and destroyed it by detonation.

The mine is believed to be from 1. World War era. Every year fishermen return with such deadly catch and provide the EOD teams always an opportunity for action.

Filed under Aegean, Turkish Navy Tagged with , , ,

TCG Akçay Discovers An Old Mine Off Romanian Coast

9 Feb 2018

M-270 TCG Akçay, seen here passing northbound through Istanbul 16 days ago.

Aydın class minehunter TCG Akçay has discovered a mine probably a relic of Second World War, as she was conducting training operations with SNMCMG-2 off the coast of Romania.

The NATO task force made its northbound passage through Turkish Straits 16 days ago.

The mine was discovered at 8 A.M. local time while TCG AKÇAY, under the command of Turkish Navy Lieutenant Commander Abdulla Yildiz, was using her mine hunting sonar to scan the sea bed and the water below her. The crew detected an object, which was thought to be a potential mine.  TCG AKÇAY then used her Remote Controlled Mine Discovery Vehicle (RCMDV) to investigate the possible mine further.  The RCMDV is remotely controlled from the mine hunter and used to identify mine-like objects using an onboard camera. If necessary, the RCMDV can also lay a 100kg explosive charge to destroy the mine.

SNMCMG2 was conducting mine countermeasure training with the Romanian Navy just off the Romanian coast near Constanta when the historic ordinance was discovered.  The area in question is shown on maritime charts as a formally mined area and this means that this is likely to be an historic mine.  The mine sits on the seabed at approximately 40 metres depth.  Images show that the mine is still attached to the ‘sinker’ or weight, which means that it likely didn’t deploy correctly when it was laid. Normally these mines were suspended mid water, attached to the weight on the seabed.

“Finding this historic mine demonstrates NATO’s capability to find uncharted mines in the Black Sea,” said Royal Navy Commander Justin Hains, Commander of SNMCMG2. “We work hard to practice our skills to ensure safe sea lanes. Identification and disposal of historic ordnance is just part of the mission.”

NATO is liaising with the Romanian authorities with regards to the neutralization or disposal of the mine

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Turkish Navy Destroys 20 Sea Mines

20 Jan 2014

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A mine, laying on the sea floor, seen through the camera of a ROV. Photo: Official Turkish Navy photo.

Turkish Navy announced today that 20 mines from World War 1 and World War 2 has been found in Northern and Central Aegean and destroyed by Turkish mine hunters.

These mines were destroyed in two separate occasions, on 30 November – 1 December 2013 and on 13 – 15 January 2014.

Every year, mines from World War 1 and World War 2, either wash up to shore, get tangled in the nets of the fishermen or found by divers and get destroyed. Mines, whether buried under dirt or lurking in the deeps of the seas are in my humble view are the most loathsome weapons as they can be still deadly after decades.

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Photo: Official Turkish Navy photo

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Photo: Official Turkish Navy photo

 

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A Hundred Years Old Mine Was Found In Didim

5 Jun 2012 4 Comments

The mine. Photo from Hürriyet.com

On 31st May 2012, an old and rusty mine was found in a popular beach in Didim, Aydın.

A swimmer notified the local  police about an odd-shaped rusty metal object laying on the sea floor after she/he injured her/his feed by it. The local police turned to the coast guard for help. Eventually the Navy EOD teams arrived at the beach and after two days work the mine was dragged out of the water to be disposed.

The naval EOD experts stated that the mine was from First World War and was at least one hundred years old and thankfully it was no longer functional.

Click here to watch a video of the salvage of the mine. Every year several old mines are found in the waters around Turkey.

The mine in close. Photo from Stargündem.com

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Catch Of The Day: A G7A Torpedo

13 Mar 2012

The G7A training torpedo caught by a Turkish fishing boat.

On 10th March 2012, the fishing boat M/V Yeni Asya returned home with a very unusual catch: a G7A torpedo.

The fishing boat found the torpedo dangled in its nets as they were fishing off the coast of Foça, İzmir. The waters around Foça, located at the entrance of Bay of İzmir is one of the popular exercise areas of Turkish Navy.

The fishermen realized that it the torpedo was an inert training torpedo without a warhead as they have encountered similar torpedoes before dully informed the local coast guard station and the harbour master. After the M/V Yeni Asya returned to Foça harbor with the torpedo hanging astern, experts examined the catch. Later it was decided to bring to torpedo to a close by naval base where it will be destroyed.

Originally designed for the use of the U-Boots during the 2. World War, the G7A torpedo is used by Kartal class fast attack craft. These vessels build in Germany as a modified Zobel class fast attack craft carry two forward facing 533mm torpedo tubes, one on each side armed with one G7A torpedoes.

Click here for a video of the incident.

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An Old British Mine, Destroyed On The Shores of Gallipoli, 97 Years After The Battle

26 Feb 2012 2 Comments

When the crew of the fishing boat Rafet Reis 3 cast their nets off the Kabatepe on Gallipoli Peninsula for a good catch of fish, they found something else: a very old and rusty object.

According to the captain of the fishing vessel, they have encountered mines before when hunting in the region. But this time the object did not looked like the other mines they have seen therefore they brought the object to the harbour and notified the Turkish Coast Guard.

After the first inspection by the Coast Guard team, the object was identified as a mine and Turkish Naval Forces, EOD teams were notified. It turned out to be a British made mine from the First World War era. The 97 years old mine was carefully taken of the fishing vessel and loaded on a trailer. The mine was taken to the Suvla beach on the Gallipoli Peninsula where it was destroyed by demolition charges.

Click, to watch a, over 5 minutes long vidoe of the transport and destruction of the old British mine.

Click for previous similar incidents.

 

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>A Mine Was Found In Güllük

11 Feb 2011

>A fishing boat found a mine in its nets when it was hunting in Güllük Bay, Muğla.

The rusted mine was brought to the harbor by the boat and was carefully lifted to the shore.  

In such cases the local authorities call in the naval special forces EOD teams in order to destroy the mine.

In 2010 alone in three different occasions a mine was found in Didim, Karasu and Artvin.

The photo is from Posta daily.

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>Look What The Net Dragged In

28 Dec 2010

>Last week a fishing boat operating of the coast of Hopa, Artvin found this in its net.

The 150 kilo, British made mine was tangled in the net as the fishermen were collecting the net. They have placed the mine on the deck of their boat and returned to the harbor.

The local security forces summoned an underwater EOD team  from Istanbul to inspected the mine. Later it was taken to military shooting range where it was destroyed by demolition charges.

Every year a couple of sea mines are found and destroyed in Turkey. This year alone in two different occasions a mine was found in Didim, and Karasu.

Click here for more photos.

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>Old, Rusty And Dangerous

12 Sep 2010

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Mine, destroyed. Photos from Hürriyet

Mines, whether buried under dirt or lurking in the deeps of the seas are in my humble view are the most loathsome weapons as they can be still deadly after decades.

The scenes of old battlefields are ripe with them all over the world. There are an estimated 80,000 unexploded mines remain in the Baltic, mostly laid by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union during World War II.

Every year a couple of sea mines are found and destroyed in Turkey. Most of these mines are dating back to the 1st World War. On 8th September a mine was discovered by a swimmer off a popular beach in Didim.

An underwater EOD team arrived from Istanbul inspected the mine. It had a diameter of 70 cm and estimated around 200 kg. Later it was taken off the shore, where it was destroyed by demolition charges.

A similar mine was found on the Black Sea in April 2010.

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