The governor of the Krasnodar Territory, Veniamin Kondratev, announced that the oil spill in the Black Sea has covered “dozens of kilometers“ of the Russian coast. The cause of the incident was the serious damage to two tankers over the weekend during a storm, which led to the dumping of oil products along the coast, News.bg reports.
According to Kondratev, fuel oil was found along the coastline from the Temryuksky to the Anapa region, with the largest spill being noticed around Anapa.
Spill and fears of an environmental disaster
On December 17, the tanker "Volgoneft 212" split in two in the Kerch Strait, which connects the Black and Azov Seas. The second tanker, the "Volgoneft 239", ran aground 80 meters from the shore, near the port of Taman in the strait. The ships, with more than 50 years on board, were carrying a total of about 9,200 tons (62,000 barrels) of petroleum products. The leak of these petroleum products is seriously worrying experts, who are worried about the scale of the ecological disaster in the region.
Videos and consequences for marine fauna
Video footage posted on the „Telegram“ channel of „Zvezda“ TV shows oil stains on the beach in Anapa, while footage from the „Vesti“ TV channel captures birds covered in grease, having difficulty flying. This highlights the scale of the damage the incident has caused to local flora and fauna.
Russia's Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology confirmed that fuel oil had spilled into the sea, but said the exact scale of the spill could not yet be determined. Alexander Kozlov, the ecology minister, suggested that some of the spill may have sunk to the seabed due to low temperatures.
Environmental risks and concerns for the shipping industry
In recent months, the industry has been concerned about the growing safety risks associated with "shady" tankers that sail the high seas with few strict safety regulations. These tankers pose a potential threat to the marine environment and can lead to incidents such as the one that led to the spill.
Crew member killed
Unfortunately, one crew member died in the incident with the tanker "Volgoneft 212", while all 14 crew members of the "Volgoneft 239" were successfully rescued.