Another mine disabled in Black Sea

ISTANBUL - Agence France-Presse

Turkish authorities have disabled a mine in the Black Sea, the Defense Ministry said on Oct. 19, in the fourth such incident since the start of the Ukraine war.

“A mine was detected off Kıyıköy... and has been secured and neutralized,” the ministry tweeted.

The Marmara province of Kırklareli’s Kıyıköy district is located less than 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the Bosphorus.

Three mines were discovered in the spring near the Turkish coast in the Black Sea, including one off Kırklareli’s İğneada, a village located 30 kilometers west of Kıyıköy and one near the mouth of the Bosphorus.

There was speculation that the mines could have become unmoored from Ukrainian waters during storms, but Ankara never confirmed their origin, and none had been found since.

Mine surveillance activities were started in the Western Black Sea region in coordination with the Coast Guard Command and other institutions, Defense Ministry spokesperson Maj. Pınar Kara said earlier at a press briefing.

Underwater mines must be equipped with systems that make them harmless if unmoored, according to the Hague Convention of 1907. But older mines may lack such systems and present a hazard.