The maritime tug “Lieutenant Dimitrie Nicolescu” (DM-29) arrived on Thursday, September 8, around 5:45 p.m., in the area where the sea mine reported by the GSP ship “Falcon” was adrift.
According to the operational procedures for these interventions, a team of EOD divers was boarded on board the ship, with a boat specialized in the research and collection of information about the object that represents a danger to navigation, in order to neutralize it.
The hydrometeorological conditions in the maritime district where the war mine was located worsened, after the arrival of the maritime dredger in the district, due to the intensification of the wind speed (10-12 m/s), the sea having degree 4 (wave with a height of 1.5 – 2 m). This situation did not allow the EOD boat to leave the water and carry out the mission.
Although safety measures were taken after dark, due to adverse weather conditions, the warship was struck by the sea mine, which was carried adrift by the storm. The deflagration produced a small water hole, located at the edge of the ship’s waterline, in the aft area (rear part of the ship).
There are no casualties or injuries as a result of the explosion, the 75 soldiers of the ship’s crew are not in danger, the ship’s buoyancy is not affected, and there are no major damages on board.
Immediately after the mine exploded, the ship’s crew acted to plug the water hole and limit the effects of seawater entering the aft compartment. By order of the Chief of the General Staff of the Naval Forces, the maritime vessel with divers “Grozavul” left the port of Constanța, to provide assistance and to tow the damaged maritime dredger to the port of Constanța.
We remind you that the Maritime Dragoon “Lieutenant Dimitrie Nicolescu” (DM-29) left the port of Constanța, on Thursday, September 8, at around 1:15 p.m., to carry out an intervention mission on a war mine, which was adrift, at a distance of approximately 25 nautical miles (46 km), in a NE direction from the entrance to the port of Constanța.
After the launch of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, this is the third mine of war that has reached the area of responsibility of the Romanian Naval Forces. From the beginning of the war to the present, 28 sea mines have been destroyed in the western part of the Black Sea, of which three mines by Turkey, two by Romania, one by Bulgaria and 22 by Ukraine.
