2023-09-20 16:10:48
A commercial ship, flying the flag of Togo, suffered an explosion this Wednesday in the Black Sea, regarding 30 kilometers off the coast of Romania, in Ukrainian waters, possibly due to a floating mine, Romanian authorities reported.
A commercial ship, flying the flag of Togo, suffered an explosion this Wednesday in the Black Sea, regarding 30 kilometers off the coast of Romania, in Ukrainian waters, possibly due to a floating mine, Romanian authorities reported.
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The Romanian Ministry of Defense sent a ship with anti-mine divers to the scene, which forced the evacuation of the 12 crew members, one of whom suffered minor injuries.
“We are analyzing the cause. The mine hypothesis seems to be closer to the truth than we initially believed, but we will wait to know what the Ministry of Defense tells us,” Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said at a press conference.
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At 06:50 local time (03:50 GMT), the commercial ship Seama, which was transporting cement and was anchored 40 kilometers from the coast, transmitted an emergency message over the maritime radio communication channel reporting an explosion.
A rescue operation by the Romanian coast guard went to the scene and rescued the crew.
A view of the cereal terminal with grain silo in the Black Sea port of Constanta, Romania. May 11, 2022. REUTERS/Anca Cernat/File
The incident occurred in Ukrainian territorial waters and did not disrupt traffic on the nearby Danube Sulina Canal, according to the Romanian news agency Agerpres.
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A minesweeper ship left the Romanian military port of Constanta with a team of explosive ordnance disposal divers, the Defense Ministry said in a statement.
“The navigation of the Sulina Channel was not endangered because the ship was in deep water,” Ciolacu explained.
Romania wants to promote the Sulina Canal as a safe transport route for Ukrainian grains, which following the suspension of the grain agreement last July became a priority like the other Danube ports along with Constanta, on the Black Sea.
The Balkan country is a member of the European Union and NATO. It shares a 650 km border with Ukraine, hosts a US ballistic missile defense system and, since last year, has had a permanent alliance battle group stationed on its territory.
(With information from EFE and Archyde.com)
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