Reuters: Romania defuses stray mine on its Black Sea shore

Romania's navy carried out a controlled explosion on Tuesday of a mine that had drifted to its Black Sea shore, the defence ministry said quoted by Reuters. Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey have a joint taskforce to defuse stray mines, which began floating in the Black Sea after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.   The ministry said the navy was alerted by local officials early on Tuesday about an unidentified object that had washed up on shore near Grindul Chituc in southeastern Romania. The area is part of the Danube Delta, which Romania shares with Ukraine.   „By examining photographs taken on site, the object is most likely an anti-landing seamine of the YaRM type," the ministry said in a statement. The mine was detonated at around 0950 GMT, the ministry added.   The Black Sea is crucial for shipments of grain, oil and oil products and is shared by Bulgaria, Romania, Georgia and Turkey, as well as Ukraine and Russia.   *** In the past two years since the invasion of Ukraine, specialist EOD divers from six countries have defused 105 drift mines gone on the loose in the Black Sea following Russia's attacks on Ukraine, the National Defence Ministry informs.Ukrainian EOD technicians neutralised the bulk of the 105 explosive devices, specifically 85, the Romanian Navy detonated six, Bulgarian specialist divers - five, Turkish EOD divers identified and defused another five, Russian experts - three, and Georgian EOD divers - one.Of the six mines that floated into the Romanian sector of the Black Sea and were defused by Romanian Navy specialists, the most recent came from Russia's attacks at the mouths of the Danube or the Dnieper and was destroyed on August 13, in the area of the Chituc Shoal, Constanta County (easternmost Romania).After February 24, 2022, Black Sea and Danube ports have regularly come under Russian attacks, in what the international press considers to be the largest armed conflict on the continent after WWII.According to Black Sea and Danube Delta fishermen, the Russian-Ukrainian war has seriously affected the fish capturing activity in the last two years. Also, many cruise ships that used to dock in Romanian river and sea ports have canceled their arrivals due to the conflict triggered by Russia.