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Romania handed over the command of the MCM BS TG to Türkiye
On Thursday, January 8th, The Romanian Naval Forces handed over the command of the Black Sea Mine Countermeasures Task Group (MCM BS TG) to the Turkish Naval Forces, during a military ceremony organized in the Port of Umuryeri, Istanbul.
The biannual meeting of the MCM Black Sea Committee also took place on Thursday, where the officials were briefed on the activities conducted under the Romanian Naval Forces command.
The Romanian Naval Forces participated in the MCM BS TG with the 274th "Vice-Admiral Constantin Bălescu" Minelayer as the group's commanding ship, and with M 270 "Sublocotenent Ion Ghiculescu" Minehunter, over July-December 2025. During this period, two activations of the MCM BS TG took place in July 10-24 and October 4-17, during which the ships participated in Multinational Exercises BREEZE and POSEIDON.
The principle of rotational command was established in the Memorandum of Understanding signed on January 11th, 2024, in Istanbul, Turkey. Thus, the of the MCM BS TG command will be exercised for the next six months by the Turkish Naval Forces, and in the second half of the year by the Bulgarian Naval Forces, with the Romanian Naval Forces taking over command again, in the first half of 2027.
The main purpose of the Task Force is to maintain the safety of maritime traffic in the Black Sea, by conducting marine mines surveillance, reconnaissance and neutralizing actions, as well as performing related search and rescue operations at sea.
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On Tuesday, January 6th, M 270 "Sub-Lieutenant Ion Ghiculescu" Minehunter, with a team of explosive ordinance disposal (EOD) divers on board, departed, from Constanta military Port, to join the MCM Black Sea TG, and to participate in the eighth activation of the group since its establishment, which takes place over January 6th-18th.
During the mission, the task group has planned stopovers in the Ports of Umuryeri (Turkey), Burgas (Bulgaria) and Constanța (Romania), to restore its combat capability.
The Press Office