Minesweepers from the navies of Bulgaria and Romania have begun clearing mines off the coast of Bulgaria in the Black Sea, along the route of the new Ukrainian maritime corridor.
Andrii Klymenko, the head of the monitoring team at the Black Sea Strategic Studies Institute, announced this in a statement, the CFTS portal reports.
"Our Black Sea neighbors have moved surprisingly quickly from the decision to create the minesweeping task force to the start of practical work," the expert said.
"They are not limiting themselves to the territorial waters of Bulgaria (up to 12 nautical miles out to sea). They are also working in the adjacent area, through which the routes of bulk carriers in the new Ukrainian corridor pass," he added.
The minesweeping task force currently consists of seven ships.
It was reported on 10 October that Turkey, Romania, and Bulgaria were discussing the creation of a task force to clear the Black Sea of naval mines that had drifted into their waters because of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. According to the report, this initiative is not a NATO operation.