A Sandown-class minehunter that served the Royal Navy has been transferred to the Romanian Naval Forces during a ceremony held on September 27 in the British port of Rosyth, Scotland. It is the first of two such ships scheduled to be delivered under the government-to-government agreement concluded between Romania and the UK.

The M 270 Sublocotenent Ion Ghiculescu minehunter, formerly HMS Blyth in the British Royal Navy, is a military ship from the Sandown class. It is 52.5 m long, has a displacement of 600 tons, and is equipped with anti-marine mine warfare (MCM) capabilities, according to a press release from the Romanian Naval Forces. It is set to arrive in the military port of Constanța, in Romania, by the end of the year.

The ship's crew, made up of 40 military sailors and commanded by Lieutenant-Commander Denis Giubernea, went through a joint training process with the British partner. 

Two retired Royal Navy minehunters, HMS Blyth and HMS Pembroke, have been sold to Romania by the Defence Equipment Sales Authority (DESA), according to an official announcement. HMS Pembroke is to be transferred to Romania next spring. 

Blyth was decommissioned in 2021, and Pembroke will be retired early next year, the British Royal Navy said. HMS Blyth was one of four Royal Navy minehunters permanently stationed in the Gulf. It was also deployed in the Baltic Sea and for domestic tasking. 

"To carry out the main missions, the two minehunters taken over from the British Royal Navy will be modernized and equipped with a high-definition sonar for underwater reconnaissance and mine search, as well as the SeaFox remote mine disposal system," reads the Romanian Naval Forces' press release.

The "Minehunter" program, with a total value of EUR 150 million (without VAT), received the approval of the Romanian Parliament in May 2023 and includes three subcomponents. One is the government-to-government agreement with the United Kingdom, which targets the two modernized Sandown-class minehunters sold to Romania.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Facebook/Fortele Navale Romane)