Black Sea mines define their story and their danger to global security and economy

The stray sea mines in the Black Sea occupied the world press for the past week, after hearing the sound of a huge explosion north of Istanbul, after the Turkish army neutralized a sea mine that had drifted off the Ukrainian coast.

Stray naval mines in the Black Sea have been the subject of the international press for the past week. On Saturday morning, a huge explosion was heard north of Istanbul, after the Turkish army neutralized a naval mine that had drifted off the Ukrainian coast, first discovered by Turkish fishermen in the Bosphorus Strait.

On Monday, the Turkish Ministry of Defense announced the discovery of another naval mine off the coast of the northwestern town of Ignada, near the border with Bulgaria, and that special units had intervened to dismantle the mine.

These phenomena come days after Russia warned that many mines drifted away from Ukrainian ports towards the Black Sea due to storms, and that the waters are likely to wash them towards the Mediterranean, threatening international navigation.

Who is responsible for the chaos of mines?

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry held Russia responsible for the consequences of drifting naval mines in the Black Sea. And it confirmed in a statement issued on Wednesday that the naval mines that drifted into Turkish and Romanian waters recently are not registered with the Ukrainian naval forces until early 2022.

The ministry added that Russia is trying to provoke Ukraine and tarnish its reputation with international partners by using sea mines seized by its forces during its occupation of the Ukrainian city of Sevastopol in 2014, by using sea mines as a new "piracy method."

On the other hand, the Russian Federal Security Service accused the Ukrainian military of planting about 420 old naval mines in the waters of the Black Sea in the vicinity of the ports of Odessa, Ochakov, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny, against the background of the war, warning that if these mines escaped from their anchors, they might reach the Bosphorus and then to the basin The Mediterranean Sea.

420 sea mines

Despite the Ukrainian denial, Russia insists on exporting its version that the Ukrainian Navy has planted 420 minefields near the ports of Odessa in the northern Black Sea, and that storms have cut the cables connecting them to the lower anchors, and the winds have contributed to their drift towards the western coast of the sea the black.

Russian reports indicate that these mines were manufactured in the Soviet era in the first half of the twentieth century, and were planted by Ukraine at the beginning of the war on February 24. The mines are "YM" weighing 172 kilograms and "YRM" weighing 30 kilograms, which are planted at a depth of one to two meters, and they explode by contact.

In light of the imminent threat posed by this large number of stray mines in the Black Sea, experts argue for the necessity of involving all riparian states in the process and cooperating in implementing joint action aimed at resolving the issue of concern to the whole world, given its danger to the maritime sector.

Turkey is one of the countries most prepared for these mines among NATO countries. Among the Turkish navy's fleet are 11 minesweepers that are always ready to operate, but even the most professional crews may have difficulty finding mines due to weather conditions.

Navigational disaster

According to the Turkish newspaper, Hurriyet, the "stray mines" reached the outskirts of the Bosphorus through the current generated by the Danube River, which flows into the Black Sea, which prompted the Turkish Navy to issue a naval flag, "Navtex", in which it warned ships of the danger of mines. .

For his part, the military expert, Ismail Hakki, said that "mines pose a great threat to Istanbul, and any danger that threatens trade or lives is the responsibility of the warring countries and they must compensate," referring to the Black Sea and the Sea of ​​Azov, which rank first in terms of the danger of exploding, followed by the waters of the Bosphorus Strait, then The Sea of ​​Marmara, the Dardanelles Strait, then the Aegean Sea, and finally the waters of the Mediterranean.

In addition to the danger of stray sea mines on Turkish navigation and exploration for natural gas in the Black Sea, their arrival in the Mediterranean would cause a navigational disaster that would affect for a long time global trade.