In the Black Sea, a Turkish-led alliance goes on the hunt for sea mines


Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania, three countries bordered by the Black Sea, signed an agreement on Thursday in Istanbul to combat mines deployed by Russia and Ukraine. An operation that has become essential given the dangers that these floating devices represent for fishermen and grain ships.

This is the start of a clean-up operation that could last several years. Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania, three NATO members, joined forces on Thursday January 11 to rid the Black Sea of ​​floating mines which, in the context of the Ukrainian conflict, hamper international navigation and disrupt fishing near their ribs.

“We have jointly decided to sign a protocol between our three countries in order to more effectively combat the danger of mines in the Black Sea by strengthening our existing cooperation and coordination,” declared Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Güler in the presence of his Romanian and Bulgarian counterparts gathered in Istanbul in a palace on the Bosphorus.


The initiative should make it possible to secure the alternative navigation route used by ships to transport Ukrainian grain exports from the end of the grain corridor denounced by Russia in the summer of 2023. At the time, the Russian army indicated that it would target boats transiting through Ukrainian ports. A threat that was never carried out. kyiv, however, accused Moscow in October of dropping sea mines from planes to disrupt the movement of civilian ships on the new route.

“Since the end of the agreement, maritime traffic has continued through a form of cabotage along the Romanian and Bulgarian coasts,” explains Jean Marcou, professor at Sciences Po Grenoble and associated researcher at the French Institute of Studies. Anatolian churches of Istanbul. “With this agreement, Turkey seeks to limit the effects of the war in Ukraine and positions itself as a settlement power in the Black Sea where it controls the straits and which remains a natural area of ​​intervention for Ankara,” adds the expert.

Map representing the countries located on the Black Sea. © France 24 graphic studio

The risk of drifting mines

After months of negotiations that began in September, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey agreed to a six-month rotating presidency system to lead the alliance. The Turkish navy, however, seems the best equipped with 11 specialized ships, including five of the Circé class acquired from France at the end of the 1990s, reports the specialized site opex360.

To hunt for explosive devices, two main types of vessels are used by navies around the world: hunters which use sonar for detection then bring in a robot or a clearance diver. And minesweepers who will patrol an area likely to be booby-trapped to detonate mines using a mechanical, acoustic or magnetic device.

But these operations aimed at demining the Black Sea and the Sea of ​​Azov could take time, according to kyiv. “Demining of communication routes and maritime trade routes is expected to last 3 to 5 months according to estimates, while the complete mine clearance operation is expected to take 3 to 5 years,” said Dmytro Pletenchuk, the navy spokesperson. Ukrainian.

Read alsoIn Ukraine, mines “will prolong the conflict for decades”

Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, several hundred of these explosives have been dumped by the two belligerents. Inexpensive and easy to deploy, sea mines particularly infest the Gulf of Odessa, a strategic Ukrainian port on the Black Sea. To protect themselves against a Russian landing, the Ukrainians admitted to having installed rope mines, that is to say, weighted by a cable to keep them on the surface or at shallow depth.

But it happens that due to bad weather, these mines break their anchorage and begin to drift. A month after the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, in March 2022, a drifting mine at the entrance to the Bosphorus worried Turkish fishermen. Since then, several floating devices have been spotted and recovered without damage. But in late December, a Panama-flagged cargo ship heading to a Ukrainian port to load grain hit a mine and two sailors were injured.

This photo released by the press service of the Ukrainian Border Guard on December 28, 2023 shows a commercial ship damaged by a Russian naval mine in the Black Sea. © AFP

“Turkey remains cautious with Russia”

After signing the agreement, NATO immediately welcomed “an important contribution to greater freedom of navigation and food security in the region and beyond”.

While the three signatories belong to the Atlantic Alliance, the Turkish minister nevertheless stressed that “this initiative will only be open to ships from the three coastal allied countries”. It thus effectively excludes the intervention of external countries, including those of NATO, in order not to contravene the Montreux Convention, signed in 1936, which governs navigation in the Bosphorus in times of war. This recognizes free movement for the traffic of civilian vessels but introduces restrictions for military vessels.

With this agreement, “Turkey is ensuring compliance with the Montreux Convention”, believes Sinan Ülgen, researcher member of the Carnegie Europe Institute. “Ankara does not wish to open passage to NATO ships and preferred to act with neighboring countries,” he explains to AFP.

At the beginning of January, Turkey reminded its “British ally” – which offered two Royal Navy mine-clearing vessels to Ukraine – “that these ships will not be authorized to cross the strait as long as the war continues “, adds Sinan Ülgen.

According to Ankara, which, since the start of hostilities, has sought to manage its relations with Moscow and kyiv, the agreement “was not formed against or as an alternative to a country or a structure, but was created solely for the purposes defensive.”

Read alsoWhy is Turkey considered the NATO troublemaker?

“Turkey remains cautious with Russia but at the same time devotes the pursuit of Ukrainian exports, even though Moscow has denounced the grain agreement,” notes Jean Marcou, who considers that this alliance could upset Vladimir Putin, despite the precautions taken by the petitioners.

“This new alliance confirms the central role that Turkey plays in this issue and which was very appreciated in the countries of the ‘global South’ after the signing of the first cereal agreement. Ankara continues to play the cards that are available as country bordering the Black Sea, guardian of the straits and member of NATO with a relationship with Russia”, analyzes Jean Marcou.

If only Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria will be required to operate in the Black Sea in the coming months, “contributions from other actors will be possible over time when the conditions are met”, indicated the Turkish Minister of Defense . A way of returning to the Greek calendars and the end of hostilities between Ukraine and Russia.



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