US destroyer heads for Black Sea through Dardanelles

The US destroyer USS Truxtun passed the Dardanelles into the Sea of Marmara on Friday. According to the local television, in a few hours it will cross the Bosporus and enter the Black Sea.

According to the Turkish Radikal paper, the Truxtun will take part in joint Black Sea exercises with Bulgaria and Romania. Permission for passage of the straits was obtained in advance, about two months ago, the paper reports. Under the Montreux convention regarding the regime of the straits, ships of the non-Black Sea countries can stay in its waters for no longer than 21 days.

Truxton will join another US ship, USS Taylor, equipped with radar systems and detector devices, which was sent to the eastern area of the Black Sea to provide security during the Sochi Olympics. On February 12 it got its screw propellers damaged while mooring at the port of Samsun for refueling. The damages, which, local authorities say, proved more serious than initially estimated, are now being fixed. Taylor may stay in Samsun until the end of March.