VIDEO The Naval Forces neutralized a Ukrainian marine drone Sea Baby, a few tens of kilometers offshore from Constanța
Sea Baby maritime drone of the Ukrainian security service SBU. Photo: Evgeniy Maloletka / AP / Profimedia
EOD military divers, specialized in the fight against explosive devices, from the Romanian Naval Forces, destroyed a Ukrainian marine drone of the Sea Baby type, at the request of the Coast Guard. The drone was detected 36 nautical miles, that is, about 67 kilometers, east of Constanța.
On Wednesday, December 3, EOD divers performed a mission to neutralize an object that endangered navigation in the Black Sea, at the request of the Coast Guard, reports MApN.
“Militaries of the 39 Diver Center moved to the maritime area estimated at 36 nautical miles east of Constanța, with the support of the maritime surveillance vessel MAI 1107 from the Coast Guard. After analyzing the drifting object, the military found that it was an unmanned surface vehicle (maritime drone) of the Sea Baby type,” announces the ministry.
According to the mentioned source, the intervention team received approval to neutralize the identified object, “in accordance with the operational procedures in force, and around 1:00 p.m., the maritime drone was destroyed by controlled detonation”.
MApN says that from February 2022 until now, freedom of navigation has been ensured for more than 12,000 commercial ships that have transited the Black Sea basin.
“Another major danger for maritime security is represented by drifting sea mines. In the last almost four years, approximately 150 sea mines have been neutralized in the Black Sea, seven of which have been destroyed by the Romanian Naval Forces”, reports the institution.
Ukrainian Sea Baby drones
Ukraine has made extensive use of Sea Baby kamikaze naval drones in recent weeks to strike oil vessels from Russia's “ghost fleet” in the Black Sea.
Ukraine says it has successfully hit two Russian “ghost fleet” oil tankers with Sea Baby drones in the Black Sea
“Sea Baby” is a type of naval drone developed by the SBU (Ukraine's security service), used in combat in the Black Sea to strike Russian military ships or oil tankers — the drone is sometimes used as a “kamikaze” drone, meaning it detonates on impact, but it can also be used as a platform for launching attack missiles from the ship.
Sea Baby has a long autonomy of up to 1,500 km and a capacity to transport a not negligible load, up to almost 2 tons. The unmanned ship can be equipped not only with explosives, but also with rocket launchers or machine guns. Such drones have also been used to launch surface-to-air missiles against Russian helicopters.
