Historically, the Black Sea has also been called by other names, simply being referred to as “the sea,” but also the “Inhospitable Sea” and “Hospitable Sea” before and after times of colonization and as it built up in infamy for being difficult to traverse. Eventually, it was named “the Black Sea” though no one has been able to determine the true origin of the name. One such reason may be that the color ‘black’ represents the Northern cardinal direction, meaning the “Black Sea” was also referred to as the “Northern Sea.” Alternatively, the name may simply be a reference to the unique color of the water during winter storms.

Given its location and breadth, the Black Sea experiences an array of climates throughout the year. It is also home to a sparse number of islands and territories administered by various bordering countries, with Ukraine controlling the Sea’s largest island, Dzharylhach, at 56 km². Many of these islands are at the core of an active regional marine ecosystem known for its nutrient-rich, brackish waters and variety of animal and plant species at varying locations and depths. Furthermore, the Black Sea is naturally anoxic and is the largest water body with a meromictic basin; that is, it is virtually absent of dissolved oxygen and the water rarely cycles between the upper and lower layers, so the lower layers not subject to fresh rainfalls and rivers are completely free of oxygen—and any marine life that relies on oxygen. The Black Sea’s anoxic nature is what particularly makes the Black Sea attractive for specialized ecological studies and deep sea explorations of natural gas and oil.

While its jurisdiction does fall under the umbrella of international law of the sea, the Black Sea is also subject to local legislation and regulations. Most notable of these is the Montreux Convention of 1936, which gives all six countries that sit on the Black Sea unlimited access to the Bosphorus and Dardanelles Straits but severely limits any other parties’ access and permissions, making external participation heavily regulated and, as some may describe, restricted. In 1992, the six border countries of the Black Sea ratified the Bucharest Convention on the Protection of the Black Sea against Pollution and founded the intergovernmental Black Sea Commission, which holds annual meetings and carries out other tasks to monitor and address pollution and conservation of this unique sea. Since 1992, the Commission has adopted two Strategic Action Plans (1996 & 2009), both of which specifically discuss the rehabilitation and protection of the Black Sea, and four declarations (1993, 2002, 2007, & 2009) that are also directly related to environmental protection. The World Wildlife Fund and similar international groups are also very active in the Black Sea region given its unique environment.

Apart from its environmental uniqueness, the Black Sea has also been a vital region for economic growth and international trade for centuries. At least one-fifth of the 180 species of fish that live in the Black Sea are considered commercially important. Also born by the 1992 Convention, the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation entered into force in 1999 and works to “ensure peace, stability and prosperity, encouraging friendly and good-neighborly relations in the Black Sea region.” The Bosphorus Strait, a natural strait located in Istanbul, Turkey, is the sole linking maritime route between the Black Sea with the rest of the world, with about 48,000 ships passing through it annually; a rate three and four times denser than the Suez and Panama Canal traffic, respectively. About 32 km in length, the width of the Bosphorus varies between 730-3,300 meters while the depth varies between 30-120 meters. 

Recent Events

Since the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea—the peninsula that separates the Sea of Azov from the rest of the Black Sea—the Black Sea has understandably received increased levels of attention; and that attention only multiplied with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Three-quarters of Ukraine’s naval fleet was based at the Sevastopol Naval Base in Crimea, which was raided and taken over by Russia in the 2014 annexation, and Kyiv has been working to rebuild its fleet ever since. 

The Black Sea cannot be separated from the ongoing Ukraine-Russia war, and not just because two of the six coastal countries are at the heart of it. One of the first stories to go viral in the wake of the invasion, which promptly became a symbol of resistance, was the verbal and physical defense of Snake Island against a Russian warship. Ukrainian ports and their shipyards quickly became the focus of Russian bombing attacks to enact the heaviest damage, which Ukraine returned with a drone attack on the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol in October. It cannot be denied; Ukraine and Russia are currently fighting a naval war in the Black Sea. For months in mid-late 2022, the international community worked on a deal with Russia to specifically allow Ukraine to safely export grain from its Black Sea ports through a humanitarian corridor in Istanbul; a deal that was halted and restarted multiple times and the focus of many Western eyes for months. And as it presently stands, the Black Sea continues to be at the center of the conflict. In January 2023, as new reports told of a sudden surge of Russian Navy ships and submarines moving out of their base “en masse,” Ukraine’s historic coastal city of Odessa, which is often described as the “pearl of the Black Sea,” was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in an effort to preserve its historic center. 

Setting the Ukraine-Russia conflict aside, given its depth and anoxic nature, the Black Sea continues to be seen as an attractive source for environmental exploration as well as oil and natural gas opportunities with rough estimates in various unexplored fields reaching the hundreds of billion cubic meters marks. In December 2022, Turkey announced that its natural gas findings in the Black Sea now amount to 710 billion cubic meters. Offshore wind potential and other renewables are also now regularly on the discussion table. In addition to its geostrategic location, the Black Sea will continue to be prized and explored for its energy source potentials in the coming decades, as regional states have already come to accept and fight on behalf of.

Keep In Mind

The Black Sea is an exceedingly unique region; in its content, in its location, in its natural characteristics, and its human history, both recent and ancient. The Black Sea itself is understood to be of very high geostrategic importance to control, especially during any time of regional conflict, such as the current Ukraine-Russia conflict. As summarized in 2018, “[m]any experts believe that whoever controls or dominates the Black Sea can easily project power to the European continent, mainly in the Balkans and Central Europe, but also in the Eastern Mediterranean as well as the South Caucasus and the northern Middle East.” More specifically, observers believe the Black Sea to be “a critical intersection” for NATO nations to maintain control over as a defensive barrier. Coupled with the emerging energy discoveries in the region and the drive for green energy over the last few years, participants and observers alike will not be soon forgetting the importance of the Black Sea. For instance, in July 2022, the U.S. 117th Congress introduced the Black Sea Security Act of 2022 that would further tighten diplomatic, democratic and economic relations with Black Sea countries apart from Russia. And others have wondered whether the naval war in the Black Sea can be used to prepare for a potential war with China over Taiwan; an interesting consideration despite how the list of differences in the two situations and regions is longer than the list of similarities.

In terms of achieving stability in the Black Sea region, there is no simple answer. Some analysts are suggesting to “kick Russia’s Navy out of the Black Sea”; an idea that may have some merit if Russia was not a coastal state to the Black Sea and, also, a significant global power aside from that. While it undeniably brings its own frustrations and complications, it is more productive to actively involve all who are involved, or else all the hard work and time spent in building a solution can come to naught. Parties can successfully work alongside those they disagree with if a goal of progress and stability is agreed upon. The Black Sea Grain Initiative is an excellent recent case study—with all of its imperfections and ultimate successes—for compromise in the Black Sea. Maybe global powers ought to recognize and accept the futility of winning wholesale via ‘knock-outs’ and fall back more on the realistic idea that ‘a really good compromise is the one that leaves both sides equally dissatisfied.’

This issue’s Spotlight was written by Jessica Martin, ICAS Research Associate & Chief Editor, ICAS Newsletters