Fuel oil from sunken Russian tankers found off the coast of Odesa region again

On October 20, environmentalists discovered a fuel oil plume on a sandy embankment near the Danube Biosphere Reserve in Odesa Oblast.

This was reported by Ivan Rusev, an employee of the Tuzly Estuaries National Nature Park.

In turn, the head of the Green Sheet organization, Vladyslav Balynskyi , explained that the source of the pollution is the Russian tankers Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239 that sank nine months ago, and fuel oil continues to leak out because the Russian authorities have not sealed the hulls underwater. With the onset of the fall storm season, these fuel oil leaks have even intensified.

"Sentinel-1 satellites record stable zones at the same coordinates as in winter. Satellite observations show that the intensity of the leaks is not constant. In different periods, one of the wrecks, presumably under the influence of storm currents or a slight displacement of the hull, changes its position in space, after which an increased output of fuel oil is observed. Thus, throughout the year, the activity of the sources alternates: sometimes the plume from the stern of the Volgoneft-212 is more pronounced, and sometimes from one of the bow sections, which remain the most stable in space. As for the stern section of Volgoneft-239, which is located almost near the shore, fuel oil was pumped out in the spring, most likely only because it had a market value," the ecologist noted.

According to Balinsky, the bulk of the pollution is bottom sediments and changes in hydrological conditions that can be carried by currents over long distances. It was this type of pollution - deep-water fuel oil sediments - that Tuzly Estuaries specialists discovered during field research in the summer, which, according to the ecologist, confirms that the effects of the spill have already gone beyond the original water area and continue to affect the Black Sea ecosystem.

Кирило Бойко