Azernews.Az

Six large mine ships have been discovered at water depths of up to 60 meters during a reconnaissance mission in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea, the Defence Ministry reported on May 4.

The mines were found during a mission conducted in the Azerbaijani sector by an Umid Babek Operating Company branch in the country.

During an inspection conducted by ships and qualified specialists of the Naval Forces involved in the water area of the sea used as a training range for minesweeper formations during the former USSR period, it was found out that the discovered objects were six large ship mines (K-1) dropped into the water without full compliance with mine-laying standards, the report added.

It is planned to neutralize the discovered mines in collaboration with other government agencies starting May 9 this year and to continue search operations, depending on weather conditions.

Starting on May 9 of this year, it is planned to neutralize the detected mines and continue the search activities in cooperation with other state structures in compliance with security measures and weather conditions.

For security reasons, the mine detection area was temporarily closed to ship traffic. Civil works in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea are proceeding as usual.

The legal status of the Caspian Sea was finally established in 2018. The Caspian Sea littoral states adopted a convention on the Caspian Sea status at the Aktau summit in August 2018. Due to the very rich resources in it (gas and oil), coastal states had problems reaching compromises. Despite signing the convention of 2018 it is not in force yet, due to the protracted process of ratification by Iran.

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