Two seafarers were injured early on Wednesday when a general cargo ship hit a mine in the Black Sea as it headed to load grain at a port on the Danube river.
The explosion started a fire on the upper deck of the Panama-flagged 8,800-dwt Vyssos (built 2007).
“The ship lost speed and control, a fire broke out on the upper deck. To avoid flooding, the captain anchored the ship aground,” Ukraine’s southern military forces said on their Telegram account.
According to a separate Ukrainian Telegram channel citing the country's authorities, one of the seafarers injured is the vessel's master, who was treated on board.
The other is an Egyptian crew member who was taken to hospital in Izmail with a contusion and a hip injury. His condition was said to be satisfactory.
Four Turkish seafarers are also on board the stuck vessel, with authorities in Istanbul announcing on Thursday their status is followed closely.
The Vyssos was just off the mouth of the Novostambul's'ke, or Shvydke, river on the Danube delta when the incident occurred. The vessel is registered under the management of Athens-based Nava Shipping.
Hundreds of mines have spread throughout the Black Sea by both Russia and Ukraine since the start of their war nearly two years ago, with Ukraine's military warning that stormy weather has dispersed them widely.
Several vessels hit mines, including a Liberia-flagged bulk carrier and a Turkish-controlled tanker in October.
Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria said earlier this month that they plan to sign an agreement in January on a programme to clear mines.
“Our mine-clearing vessels will carry out constant patrols to the point where Romania's (sea) borders end,” Turkish Defence Minister Yasar Guler told reporters, according to Reuters.
The UK and Norway have also recently said they will send mine sweepers as part of a naval assistance programme for Ukraine.
Russia has increased its attacks on Ukraine’s port infrastructure since July, when it pulled out of a UN-brokered safe corridor that allowed seaborne exports of Ukrainian grain.
Ukraine has since established an alternative route under its own arms, along the western shores of the Black Sea.
As of 28 December, 386 outbound ship voyages have been recorded out of the three previously blocked ports of Odesa, Yuzhnyy/Pivdennyi and Chornomorsk, carrying an estimated 12.5m tons of agricultural and iron products.
Ukrainian vessel traffic through the Danube River never stopped.
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