RSS
Sea mine explodes near Costinesti pier
An underwater explosion rocked the area of the pier in front of the Forum Hotel in the Costinesti seaside resort on Monday morning around 9:00 hrs. There were no injuries or fatalities, Constanta County's Dobrogea Emergency Management Inspectorate (ISU) announced. An ISU Dobrogea first-responder crew with a special fire truck and a RIB boat was quickly deployed to the scene and cordoned off the zone.
Preliminary data shows the explosion was caused by a sea mine. A team of divers specializing in the destruction of explosive devices is taking action at the scene.
Corneliu Pavel, a spokesperson for the Romanian naval forces, informed Digi24 that a team of divers is en route to Costine?ti to assess the situation. Pavel mentioned, „Strong winds are blowing from the open sea towards the shore, and the sea conditions are challenging. It’s a demanding task. We will gather more details once they reach the location. Since the commencement of the conflict, our divers have successfully rendered harmless five sea mines.” Pavel also added that authorities will likely impose a restriction on tourists within approximately 150 meters of the explosion site.
A second drifting mine was reported in the area of the Costinesti breakwater, which is why a Romanian Navy EOD diver team was called to the indicated sea sector to assess the situation and neutralize the device, the Navy Press Office said.
The General Staff of the Maritime Forces (SMFN) have announced on Monday night, after searching the maritime space in the vicinity of the Romanian sea side that there were no maritime mines adrift.
'The EOD diver and a ship belonging to the Coast Guard had a joint mission to search the maritime area in the vicinity of the coast at Costinesti, as a result no maritime mines adrift were identified. During the present day, the minelayer ' Viceamiral Constantin Balescu (PM 274), a IAR Puma Naval helicopter and a surveillance aircraft of the US executed, starting with 13:00 joint maritime and air searches, in the maritime area between Constanta and Mangalia, as a result no maritime mine adrift was found' the quoted source says.
The monitoring missions under the responsibility of the Romanian Maritime Forces will continue.
Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, in February 2022, the Romanian Maritime Forces have adapted their activities plan and have undergone systematic actions of searching the maritime aria in the responsibility zone with military ships and aircraft, in collaboration with the structures in the national system of defence, with responsibilities in the domain, as well as with the partners in the North-Atlantic Alliance, the press release says.