site.btaBulgarian Navy Destroys Floating Mine

The Bulgarian Navy destroyed a floating mine discovered in the Black Sea on January 24, the Defence Ministry said Tuesday. The report of a floating object resembling a sea mine was received at the Navy headquarters at 5:05 pm on January 23 from the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre. The object was sighted 14.8 nautical miles east of Cape Kochan, by a Ukrainian-flagged motor vessel. The Navy's Hydrographic Service issued a navigational mine threat alert to notify ships sailing in Bulgarian maritime spaces.

After calculations by experts at the Navy headquarters (wind speed and sea current), a search area was determined. A Panther helicopter from the Chaika naval air base located the object, identified it as a mine and remained in the area until the arrival of the duty ship. On board the Priboy base minesweeper, the corresponding military specialists classified the mine as a moored Yam type. It was destroyed with a controlled detonation at 2:40 pm on Tuesday.

The Navy maintains its readiness for mine countermeasures.

On Monday, the Defence Ministry destroyed another floating mine of the moored Yam type. It was sighted some 200 metres off the shore of the village of Tyulenovo.