Oil from Russian tankers pollutes the entire Black Sea

Ukrainian scientists have confirmed that the fuel oil spill from Russian tankers in the Kerch Strait in December 2024 caused large-scale pollution of the entire Black Sea.

According to NGL.media, in December 2024, after the tragedy in the Kerch Strait, an international group of scientists was created to explain the consequences of the oil spill from two tankers. The group included Mark Zheleznyak from IER Fukushima University (Japan), Maksym Sorokin from the Institute of Mathematical Machines and Systems Problems of the National Academy of Sciences (Ukraine), Pavlo Tkalich from the Tropical Marine Science Institute at the National University of Singapore (Singapore), and Viktor Komorin, acting director of the Ukrainian Scientific Center for Marine Ecology.

By analyzing satellite images, social media, and models of oil movement in water, the scientists calculated the directions of oil slicks movement.

"We created two models - for the lighter and heavier fractions of oil. In both cases, fuel oil enters the mainstream and pollutes all the coasts," the media quoted Professor Mark Zhelezniak as saying.

Thanks to OpenDrift modeling, which involved scientists from Ukraine, Japan, and Singapore, it became known that

• fuel oil has reached the coasts of Turkey, Georgia, Romania, Bulgaria, and Ukraine;
• in January 2025, fuel oil slicks were found on the coast of Odesa region;
• massive deaths of birds covered in fuel oil were recorded in Turkey and Georgia.

"In fact, all the Black Sea countries are at risk, and none of them can expect to avoid the danger. Be that as it may, all the Black Sea currents intersect," Pavlo Goldin of the Ukrainian Institute of Zoology named after I.I. Schmalhausen explained in a comment to NGL.media.

According to Yulia Pavytska, Head of Analytical Department, KSE Institute Sanctions group, what happened in the Kerch Strait can happen wherever tankers of the Russian "shadow fleet" sail. She and her colleagues have been tracking the movement of Russian tankers since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.

"It's only a matter of time. Everyone is sitting on this powder keg and waiting for the next spill to happen," Pavytska said.

According to the KSE, about 85% of Russian crude oil is currently transported by tankers of the "shadow fleet" - old, uncontrolled vessels that transport oil in violation of sanctions and without international insurance.

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