On January 24, the first signs of contamination with Russian fuel oil from tankers that had an accident in the Kerch Strait were discovered on the beaches of the Odessa region.
Points of attention
- A storm washed fuel oil from Russian tankers that had an accident in the Kerch Strait onto the beaches of the Odessa region, causing the first signs of contamination.
- The spillage of thousands of tons of fuel oil into the Black Sea is considered the largest environmental disaster in the history of navigation in the region, posing a significant threat to ecosystems and wildlife.
- Efforts are underway between Ukraine, Romania, and Bulgaria to collaborate with international institutions in mitigating the environmental and material damage caused by the Russian tanker accident.
- Preliminary estimates suggest that the fuel oil leak from the Russian tankers has already resulted in over 14 billion US dollars in material damage to the Black Sea ecosystem, impacting marine life and disrupting food chains.
- Ecologists warn that the consequences of this environmental disaster are severe, highlighting the urgent need for international cooperation and swift action to protect the natural ecosystems of the Black Sea.
Russian fuel oil reaches the beaches of the Odessa region
This was reported on Facebook by an employee of the Tuzli Estuaries National Park, ecologist Ivan Rusev.
The terrible fuel oil disaster of the Black Sea has reached our Odessa shores. After storms, fuel oil, which spilled after the accident of Russian tankers in the Kerch Strait, was carried away by the storm onto the sandbank near the Katranka recreational zone, near the Danube Biosphere Reserve and the Tuzlivsky Limany National Nature Park.
According to him, the consequences of such environmental disasters have no limits and thousands of tons of fuel oil that have entered the sea will cause great harm to the natural ecosystems of the Black Sea and its biodiversity.
Russian tanker accident: what is known
On December 15, the Russian oil tankers Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239 sank in the Kerch Strait. As a result, more than 4,000 tons of fuel oil spilled into the Black Sea.
According to preliminary estimates by environmental inspectors, the fuel oil leak caused material damage to the Black Sea ecosystem in the amount of over 14 billion US dollars. This includes tens of kilometers of fuel oil film on the surface of the water deep into the Black Sea, thousands of kilometers of polluted coastline, thousands of dead birds and dozens of dolphins, and disrupted food chains in ecosystems.
It is noted that Ukraine, Romania, and Bulgaria have agreed at the ministerial level "joint steps for interaction with international institutions" on the consequences of the accident of Russian tankers in the Kerch Strait.
According to scientist Yevgeny Khlobystov, the fuel oil pollution caused by the accident of two Russian tankers is the largest in the entire history of navigation in the Black Sea.
