Environmental disaster in the Black Sea: what are the consequences of fuel oil leakage by Russian tankers?

A fuel oil spill from two Russian tankers in the Black Sea has caused a large-scale environmental disaster, with damages estimated at more than $14 billion. And this amount may increase after the data on the consequences of the pollution is clarified.

This was reported by Svitlana Hrynchuk, Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources.

"Russians must be held accountable for the large-scale environmental disaster in the Kerch Strait. According to preliminary estimates by the State Ecological Inspectorate of Ukraine, the fuel oil leak has caused more than USD 14 billion in damage to the Black Sea ecosystem. It will definitely change after the data of the disaster is clarified," she said.

Hrynchuk emphasized that Ukrainian experts are actively documenting the facts of pollution and analyzing its impact on the environment. To this end, an interagency meeting has been organized with the participation of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, maritime administrations and other relevant agencies.

Ukraine has already appealed to the Secretariat of the Commission for the Protection of the Black Sea from Pollution to hold an extraordinary meeting. The participants are to organize an independent examination to assess the state of the waters, bottom sediments, and marine ecosystem. Appeals to international organizations such as the UN, the European Union, UNESCO, and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) are also being prepared.

To coordinate actions, the Ukrainian side held an online meeting with the Ministers of Environment of Romania and Bulgaria. Representatives of these countries shared their observations on the consequences of the disaster and agreed on further steps. Experts expect weather conditions to improve in order to obtain high-quality satellite images to analyze the extent of the pollution.

The minister noted that the key threats are the pollution of coastal ecosystems, in particular, the territory of nature reserves and other areas located in the Kerch Bay. There is also a high risk that this oil film will spread to other areas of the Crimean coast, the minister said.

Meanwhile, Russian state media have found the cause of the tanker wreck in the Black Sea. According to them, the Volgoneft vessels were shipwrecked not because of a storm or the fact that the tankers had not been serviced for 30 years, but because of a crew error in difficult weather conditions.

The occupiers claim that a strong storm was raging in the area of the accident, and the crews of one or both tankers could not cope with the elements and made mistakes in ship control in such conditions. Thus, it was the crew's fault that one vessel was cut in half and the other was seriously damaged.

However, the occupiers do not provide any information about the rescue of the crew of the Volgoneft tankers. At least one casualty from the Volgoneft-212 vessel is known. There is still no information about the other tanker, Volgoneft-239, with 14 sailors.

The accident in the Kerch Strait became known on December 15. The shipwreck occurred near Cape Panagia in the Temryuksky district of Krasnodar Territory, in the southwest of the Taman Peninsula, 12 kilometers from the village of Taman. This is the eastern entrance to the Kerch Strait from the Black Sea.

Ірина Глухова