The entire Black Sea region is being affected by some of the most dangerous weapons deployed in Russia's war on Ukraine.
The Black Sea coast is shared by Russia, Georgia, and NATO members, which control the straits that connect the sea to the Mediterranean and beyond.
Four mines have floated away from Ukrainian waters since the beginning of the war. Three were found in Turkish waters and one was found off of the coast of Romania. Stray mines can disrupt maritime traffic.
Naval mines can cause damage to naval vessels that are disproportionate to their cost.
It is difficult to find and destroy them, meaning they can affect or deny access to more sophisticated naval vessels.
They can be deployed on the surface by mine-laying vessels or aircraft. Older models explode on contact. Pressure changes, sounds, or magnetic waves can cause a model to explode.
Older, less sophisticated mines can cause a lot of damage.
Water rushing back into the space created by the mine's explosion can cause more damage to a vessel with the shock waves they produce or through bubble jet damage.
The US Navy hit an Iranian mine in the Persian Gulf in 1988, demonstrating the effectiveness of naval mines. The ship narrowly avoided sinking. It took six months for repairs to be made. The Iranian mine had an estimated cost.
The four stray mines detected in the Black Sea have all been Soviet-made anchor contact mines. Poor condition may have made them more dangerous.
Johannes Peters, a maritime strategy expert at the University of Kiel, toldDeutsche Welle that the Black Sea's age and condition greatly increases their sensitivity.
It's not clear if the mines belonged to Russia or Ukraine. Both sides have accused the other of employing them. According to a Russian notice, there were more than 400 mines in the Black Sea, with about 10 of them already adrift.
Locating and disabling naval mines is a challenge that often requires coordination between aerial and naval assets. If the area is large and there is no certainty about the presence of mines, the task becomes more difficult.
The safest method of mine location is by mine-hunting vessels or aircraft. To minimize the risk of triggering a nearby mine, mine-hunting vessels are designed to have a low magnetic and acoustic footprint.
Once a mine is located, it can be disabled by a controlled explosion performed by a diving team or by remotely operated underwater vehicles. There are novel mine-hunting platforms that include dolphins and sea lions.
maritime traffic through the area being searched is delayed or has to be re-routed, as mine-hunting is a slow process which magnifies its disruptive effect. They are particularly disruptive in the Bosporus, one of the Turkish straits between the Black and Mediterranean seas.
There are mines that drift away from Ukrainian waters. The Turkish Navy disabled the mine while the Turkish authorities temporarily closed the busy strait.
The Turkish Navy has a strong anti-mine warfare component. The US has neglected anti-mine warfare.
The US Navy only has eight Avenger-class mine-countermeasure vessels. All of them are 30 years old and need frequent repairs. The Sea Dragon mine-countermeasure helicopter faces similar challenges.
The use of mines by US adversaries makes the need to update US mine-countermeasure capabilities more pressing. Russia has the largest arsenal with estimates ranging from 125,000 mines to a million.
The risk of mines on both sides of the war in Ukraine is still present. The threat of additional drifting mines cannot be ruled out, according to NATO's Shipping Center.
Constantine Atlamazoglou works on security. He obtained a masters degree in security studies and European affairs from the school.
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