An explosion took place on Wednesday morning, on board a ship located in the Sulina area, and the crew was taken over by the intervention teams and brought safely to the port. The ship is under the flag of Togo. The Romanian Naval Authority says there is no indication that it was a sea mine. Also, the Ministry of National Defense specified that the General Staff of the Naval Forces sent the minesweeper “Vice Admiral Constantin Bălescu” to the area, with a group of EOD divers on board, to act in support of the civil authorities responsible for the intervention and to carry out research.
The mayor of Constanța, Vergil Chițac, told Digi24 that it is possible that it was an explosion inside and not a sea mine. “The divers will see where the explosion came from, from a mine or if it was an internal explosion. I think it’s not a sea mine, because the engine compartment is affected. I think it’s an internal cause. The compartment area is the most endangered from this point of view, because all the installations are working. On the bottom of the ship there is fuel mixture, which flows from seals, oils and must be cleaned, because the mixture is explosive. There are also consumption tanks. I believe the origin is within. Let’s say someone did some welding, that’s a hypothesis, and given that it’s a fuel-bearing area and the area has an explosive capability, I think there was an explosion inside. The ship has been in the port of Sulina for a long time. He was waiting to enter Bâstroe to go to one of the Ukrainian ports, probably. It must be stabilised, towed and transported to the first port, docked, the owner notified, the insurers and repaired at the expense of the insurers, if the insurance is good”, the mayor also explained to Digi24.
“Regarding the situation of the commercial ship Seama, under the flag of Togo, which reported an explosion on board during the morning of September 20, around 6:50, the leadership of the General Staff of the Naval Forces ordered, according to operational procedures, to send to the Sulina maritime district , to act in support of the civil authorities responsible for the intervention and for the investigation of the district, of the minesweeper “Vice Admiral Constantin Bălescu” (274), with a group of EOD divers on board. The military ship left the Constanța military port around 8:15 a.m.,” the Defense Ministry announced.
“The crew was prepared for abandonment. A ship moved to the area and the 12 members were evacuated from the ship. They are in Sulina Port and crew statements are being taken to determine the cause of the accident. The ship is relatively stable, it doesn’t seem to be sinking. We have a tug, trying to tow the vessel to North of the Sulina Channel and voluntarily scuttle it. There is no indication that a mine could be the cause. In this second we do not count. The divers will do checks,” said an official from the Romanian Naval Authority.
I can bet all my money that it was a planted sea mine. Of course here we will never prove who did it. Perfect tactics from Mother Russia.