Turkish dive team safely defuse another floating naval mine in Black Sea

Turkish special naval units safely defused a naval mine in the Black Sea on Wednesday, some 140 kilometres to the north-east of Istanbul, the Defence Ministry said

The mine was spotted off the coast of the town of Kefken by a reconnaissance plane, the ministry said on Twitter. Broadcaster NTV showed footage of a dive team approaching the object.

This is the third such find, following the discovery of two mines in the final week of March. Those were defused, in the Bosporus Strait and in the Black Sea near the Bulgarian border, respectively.

As a result, Turkish authorities banned night-time fishing off the north-western coast until further notice.

It remains unclear whether the mines are connected to the war in Ukraine. Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of placing naval mines in the Black Sea.

Earlier in March, Ankara restricted access to the Bosporus and the Dardanelles Strait, which lies to the south-west, for Russian warships, in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.