Last month, the United Kingdom announced that it would hand over two Sandown-class minehunters to Ukraine. One will get the name of Chernihiv, the other – Cherkasy. However, it will not be easy for these ships to reach Ukraine, where they are definitely needed.
Cherkasy, Ukraine’s new minehunter, pictured here as HMS Shoreham, when it was still in British service. Image credit: Lt Nicholas Stevenson RN/MOD via Wikimedia (OGL v1.0)
This generous British gift, which is part of the UK’s and Norway’s initiative, is intended to help Ukraine deal with the heavily mined waters of the Black Sea. Those Russian mines pose a danger to commercial shipping and Ukraine desperately needs to ensure the security of its trade routes.
These minehunting ships are not new – one was built in 1998, the other in 2001. But other ships of this class sail and serve successfully and efficiently, so they will definitely be useful to Ukraine. If only they can reach it.
Turkey has announced that it will not allow the Chernihiv and Cherkassy to enter the Black Sea, as this would violate international agreements on the use of the Bosphorus and Dardanelles Straits in times of war. Turkey, of course, is a member of NATO and should follow a common policy with other countries of the alliance, but in this regard, international agreements are actually older than NATO itself.
When Russia in 2022 invaded Ukraine in February, Turkey immediately activated the 1936 Montreux Convention, effectively blocking the passage of Ukraine’s and Russia’s warships through its straits connecting the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.
Under this convention, warships of non-belligerents could pass through the Turkish straits even in times of war, so British ships could theoretically do so. However, if the ships sail to be handed over to Ukraine, Turkey considers them to be ships of a war country and will not allow them through.
Turkey has good relations with both Ukraine and Russia, so it is likely that Ankara simply does not want to damage its chances of negotiating with Moscow. Also, technically those ships have already been decommissioned by the Royal Navy, so they are now considered Ukrainian. They will have to wait to get to their new home ports and start clearing the waters of the Black Sea.
Sandown-class minehunters are quite small actually. One such ship is 53 metres long and has a crew of 34 sailors. These minehunters are built from fiberglass to be less magnetic when looking for mines in dangerous waters. Sandown-class minehunters are hardly armed – they usually have a 30 mm autocannon and some machine guns for self-defense.
Ukraine is the most mined country in the world and this problem is plaguing its waters too. The UK and Norway came up with an initiative to help Ukraine clear the sea to make shipping safer.
Written by Povilas M.