Turkish-flagged ship hits mine in Black Sea

A small Turkish-flagged general cargo ship struck yesterday in the Black Sea off the coast of Romania near the entrance to the Sulina Canal. The 31-year-old, 3,134 dwt Kafkametler sustained minor damage but the crew was safe. The ship was able to resume sailing after three hours.

Security consultants Ambrey said the incident occurred on the same day that the company “informed its clients of a likely additional sea mine deployment by the Russian navy conducted to frustrate Ukraine’s grain exports.”

Intelligence issued on Wednesday from London warned of the threat of Russia laying mines to deter the fledging trade lane Ukraine has created along its coastline.

“Russia almost certainly wants to avoid openly sinking civilian ships, instead falsely laying blame on Ukraine for any attacks against civilian vessels in the Black Sea,” the UK Foreign Office said in a statement.

In the middle of July Russia pulled out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a United Nations-brokered shipping pact, after which Kyiv has worked to establish an alternate route to manage its exports while also targeting Russian naval infrastructure to keep the new maritime corridor away from attack.

Greece this week proposed to use its ports in the Aegean Sea as a corridor for the export of Ukrainian grain, joining Lithuania and Croatia in offering their ports to help Ukraine with agricultural exports.