Navy divers blew up parts of a drone in the Black Sea on Friday, 9 October, after the debris was found 15 nautical miles east of Sinemorets, the Bulgarian Navy said. See our original report: Ships from Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey will search for mines off the Bulgarian coast.
The mine-countermeasures group is under Bulgarian Navy command.
At about 12.00, the group's command got a report of a launch motor from a Kh-31R missile. The crew of the Romanian mine hunter Capitan Constantin Dumitrescu checked and identified the object, then lifted the motor on board.
At the same time, floating parts of a drone were spotted 15 nautical miles east of Sinemorets. The Bulgarian mine hunter Struma went to the area to inspect the object and find out what it was.
The head diver from the support ship Captain First Rank Dimitar Dobrev proposed destroying the object where it lay, because of fears it contained explosives. The Navy commander agreed, and the parts were blown up with safety rules observed.
The group's ships are continuing with the plan to guard sea traffic and search for sea mines, the Navy said.