Black Sea Fleet minesweeper to chase suspect vessels along with Turkish warships

13.04.2011 Black Sea Fleet (BSF) sea-going minesweeper Valentin Pikul will attend joint naval operation Black Sea Harmony, reports Rosbalt referring to BSF Information Support Group.

According to BSF press-service, prior to the operation Valentin Pikul has passed scheduled overhaul and conducted firing drills of all shipborne weapons.

The operation is controlled by permanent headquarters located in Turkish port Eregli. It works in cooperation with Russian command post in Divnomorskoye which maintains effective participation of Russian assets in international naval operations held in the Black Sea.

Note that Russia takes part in the anti-terror operation Black Sea Harmony since 2006. In the framework of the operation, Russian and Turkish naval assets monitor suspect vessels with the view to reveal illegal activities, primarily, terrorism and contraband trafficking.