what you need to do is 1) have a decent ship with good shilds, 2) go slow, if you try to go past them in cruise...BOOM (if your doing that it is your shields)

Also if your not playing Vannila, it could be somthing to do with that.

This minefield in particular does have a bug, which appears just the way you described it. What you can do about it? Find a place that doesn't work down your shields. Another odd occurance is the wreck of the Storm, which is at the border of the minefield IIRC, coordinates D6. Yhen you're approaching it from the Arranmore base, althou not touching a mine, you'll lose your shields and go boom eventually.

Tis true, some mines seem to go "boom" without either sound or effect - almost like there are the odd invisible mines in the minefield.

Tis annoying, just have to be very careful about your movements. I personally mine that field by coming at one side of it, and not actually entering it, but simply shooting the small flying asteroids instead (there are little gaps in the mines here and there).

Yes, I did mine it from the border of the field as well, but I'd like to see whats in the base in the center of the field (both the BMM and Mollys bases)

You'll probabily need something with pretty high shields, just keep checking your shields aren't going down too quick - and don't forget that shield batteries can replenish them if they do take a wallop, but use them before your shield disappears as the next blast could take out your hull.

I usually fly cruise through there, just keeping a close eye on the shields. Fly in "free" mode, and weave around mines as much as possible.

I don't think this is a glitch, perhaps it is the mechanism that destroys the Mollies so quickly....

Anyway, if you have to get around (not through) a minefield, you can take advantage of the 2D layout of most FL systems, by flying up, and over a minefield rather than through it. Also use this to navigate hostile systems as AI ships don't spawn when you fly high enough above the plane of the system (usually 10-15k I think).

It's not just this minefield. The NPCs seem to fly around in minefields oblivious to the fact that their shields are down. And even the strongest ship with the heaviest armour will not survive a single mine hit. I've watched Mollies, Corsairs, Red Hessians and others get blown up in mine fields. The Corsairs are great ones for getting blown up by gas pocket explosions too.

Best thing with the Mollie's minefield is to avoid it as much as possible until after the story game has ended. Then go back when you have a ship that carries plenty of shield bats! Same advice holds for almost any mine field.