India issues advisory on high-risk Black Sea assignments

• The security situation in and around the Black Sea and adjoining maritime areas remains highly volatile due to the ongoing conflict. 

• Commercial vessels operating in or transiting these waters are facing significant security risks, including missile and drone attacks. 

• Since April, there has been an increase in the number of such incidents on commercial vessels, which has also resulted in the tragic loss of five Indian lives.

• The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) urged Indian citizens to carefully assess the security situation before taking up jobs in maritime zones witnessing conflicts.

• The MEA said those who choose to undertake such employment should exercise the utmost caution and observe precautions.

• Since April, there have been attacks involving Indian seafarers onboard foreign flag ships. 

• Russia has stepped up its ballistic strikes on Ukraine’s Kyiv and southern port hub of Odesa, launching dozens of missiles.

• A Russian attack on a Guinea-Bissau-flagged merchant vessel off the coast of Ukraine that killed 10 people, including Indian crew members.

• The recent attack on flagged tankers MT Asia, MT Louise-1, and MT Nelsa near Novorossiya, Russia, resulted in damage to the vessels.

Key facts about Black Sea:

• The Black Sea is one of the most isolated inland seas in the world. 

• It is situated between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor and has a surface area of about 436,400 sqkm. 

• The average depth is between 1,240 and 1,315 m, though it reaches a maximum of 2,212 m. 

• From east to west the sea measures 1,175 km, and the widest distance from north to south is over 610 km. 

• The total length of the coastline is about 4,020-4,340 km.

• Six countries border the Black Sea: Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Georgia, Russia and Ukraine.

• At the northeastern corner, the Black Sea is connected to the Sea of Azov by Kerch Strait.

• In the southwest, the Black Sea is connected to the Sea of Marmara (and thus the Canakkale Strait, otherwise known as Dardanelles Strait, and the Mediterranean) by the Istanbul Strait, also known as Bosphorus Strait.

• The Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait are surrounded by Ukraine and Russia. The Sea of Marmara, Istanbul Strait and Canakkale Strait represent the inland waters of Turkey known as the Turkish Straits System. 

• The Black Sea is considered anoxic at its deeper levels, which means it gets no oxygen below the surface layer. About 90 per cent of the lower Black Sea contains no oxygen, making it impossible for life to exist below 200 meters.

• It is the world’s largest meromictic basin. This means that the upper layer of water and lower layer of water do not intermix.