Turkish Ministry of Defence announced the incident on Twitter, indicating that the Turkish Navy sent an underwater defense team to neutralize the sea mine.
The drifting mine was detected off the coast of Kefken (~160 kilometers east of Istanbul) in the Black Sea. The estimated position of the mine is shown with a red circle on the map below.
The first mine was detected on March 26 in the anchorage area off the coast of Istanbul, and the second was found two days later near the Turkish-Bulgarian maritime border. This was the third mine discovered in Turkish waters in the Black Sea.
Romania had found a floating mine on March 28 and neutralized it with EODs. Four sea mines have been discovered so far since Russia’s March 18 NAVTEX release, which said there are about 420 floating mines in the Black Sea.
The Turkish Navy has deployed two Aydin-class MCM vessels (visually verified by Bosphorus Observer Yoruk Isik as TCG AKCAY (M-270) and TCG AKCAKOCA (M-268)), CASA CN-235M-100 maritime patrol aircraft, and Tuzla-class patrol boat TCG TEKIRDAG (P-1207) as a measure for the further incidents.
