Romanian officials evacuated the crew of a Togo-flagged general cargo ship, following an explosion near the Romanian port of Sulina.
The vessel Seama was in transit to Sulina, a location where the Danube River meets the Black Sea and bound for one of Ukraine’s Danube River ports, when the explosion occurred. Fearing for the worst, the Romanian naval forces dispatched a specialised sea mine hunter vessel, accompanied by a team of skilled divers, to conduct an extensive search for potentially hazardous mines.
The search for mimes was motivated by the fact that since the invasion of Ukraine last year, mines have strategically been placed in the Black Sea. Consequently, military diving teams from Romania, Bulgaria, and Turkey have been employing forces to neutralise drifting mines that have entered their respective waters.
However, in a recent statement, Romanian Transport Minister Sorin Grindeanu claimed that the explosion originated from the engine room, although further details regarding the exact cause remain undisclosed.
Moscow has reportedly escalated its attacks on Ukraine’s Danube River ports. This comes in the wake of the Russian government’s decision to withdraw from the previously agreed-upon Black Sea Grain Initiative, aimed at lifting a de facto blockade imposed by Russia.