Bulgaria To Acquire 7 Minehunters From The Netherlands & Belgium To Demine Black Sea

Belgium and the Netherlands will be supplying 7 minehunter ships to Bulgaria as the countries focus on enhancing their joint maritime security capabilities to protect ships in the Black Sea from dangerous naval mines.

The countries also signed a memorandum of understanding to undertake joint crew training, supply additional equipment and spare components for the ships if required.

In a meeting of NATO members held in July, Romania, Turkiye and Bulgaria agreed that a task force combining their forces must be established to clear the Black Sea of floating mines which threaten shipping and critical infrastructure such as pipelines and underwater cables.

The three countries, along with Ukraine, Georgia and Russia, who share the Black Sea and have ports on its coast, founded a task force to de-mine the strategic waterway following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The parliament of Bulgaria approved the sale contract with the Netherlands on Wednesday. Under the agreement, Bulgaria would get 3 vessels capable of destroying mines and mine-like foreign objects.

Another deal was signed between Bulgaria, Belgium and the Netherlands for 4 other mine hunter ships.

Top officials from the Netherlands said the country would ensure that the ships are in perfect condition, along with their onboard systems and equipment, before delivering them to Bulgaria, which would pay for the repairs and restoration so that all 7 ships meet the combat readiness benchmarks of NATO.

Defence Minister of Bulgaria, Dimitar Stoyanov, said that acquiring the mine hunter vessels is especially necessary. He elaborated that the country already has three with the same technical capabilities, and the other seven would further add to its abilities to demine the Black Sea region.