An unusual incident in Romania: The crew of the cargo ship SEAMA was evacuated from the vessel after the ship apparently hit a sea mine about eight nautical miles from the port of Sulina in eastern Romania, on the Black Sea coast.
None of the crew members of the ship, which was built in 1981 and sails under the Togo flag and is owned by a Lebanese company, was injured in the incident and all were rescued safely. Footage of smoke rising from the site of the impact was published in Romanian media.
Hai Lahim, the Romanian, sent a mine clearance ship and divers to the scene in search of more mines. The country believes that the mine reached the area following mines carried out by the Russian navy in the area. It is also possible that it was an older mine that washed up off the coast of Romania.
Embry, which assesses and assesses shipping risks, said in a statement that "the vessel was swept northeast of Solina's docking area, making it the most vulnerable vessel to floating sea mines. The incident underscores the importance of carrying out risk assessment in docking and sailing in different parts of the Black Sea."
This is the first time that a commercial vessel has been hit by a naval mine in Romanian territorial waters and is apparently another spillover of the fighting in Ukraine into the territory of the NATO member country. Last week, the remains of a Russian attack drone were discovered in Romanian sovereign territory, near a Romanian military facility. Bucharest sent hundreds of troops and several air defense systems to the border following the incident.
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