Romanian ship Lieutenant Dimitrie Nicolescue has struck a Russian mine in the Black Sea. The ship is disabled and injuries are unclear. Rescue operations are pauses due to heavy sea state and storms. There are 75 sailors onboard the minesweeper.

The vessel was dispatched to neutralize the mine which was reported by GSP ship “Falcon”. However during EOD operations, the vessel and mine made contact, detonating it.

The detonation occurred near a Romanian oil rig in the waters off Constanta, Romania. Sources indicate the mine was of Russian origin, which keeps with previous reporting of Russian mines adrift as far as the Bosporus Straits in Turkey. It is worth noting that Ukraine has also mined port waters around Odessa extensively. However, intercepted mines in the last 5 months have predominantly been Russian.

This is developing