Bulgarian Navy steps up anti-mine surveillance after blast at Romanian resort
Bulgaria’s Navy has stepped up anti-mine surveillance to ensure the safety of shipping, following reports about an explosion on August 14 in the sea near a Romanian coastal town.
This was announced by Bulgaria’s Ministry of Defence, which said that additional forces and resources were in immediate readiness to respond to reports about floating mines, to dispose of them.
Reports said that the explosion, near Costinești in Romania’s Constanța County, did not result in injuries or serious damage.
It has been several months since confirmed sightings and destruction of sea mines in Bulgaria’s Black Sea have been reported.
The most recent incidents where mines were located and destroyed by Bulgarian Navy specialists were in January and February 2023. Subsequent sightings of floating objects turned out to be false alarms, such as an incident in April when a “mine” turned out to be part of a plastic tube from an industrial fishing net.
Before the January and February incidents, there were isolated cases in August and September last year when the Navy located and destroyed mines at the Bulgarian coast. At least some of the mines found are believed to be linked to Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(Photo: Bulgaria’s Ministry of Defence)
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