“The damaged Russian oil tanker, which ran aground near the German island of Rügen the day before, is being towed further east for safety reasons.”, — write: www.ukrinform.ua
The damaged Russian oil tanker, which ran aground near the German island of Rügen the day before, is being towed further east for safety reasons.
It is noted that the storm made it difficult to anchor the 274-meter-long oil tanker in the planned place. Now the tanker has to change its position, for which additional ships and a team of experts were involved. The oil tanker “Eventin”, which suffered an accident north of Rügen, is being moved by three powerful tugs.
It is then expected that there will be a bit more open sea space to the south if something unforeseen happens, a spokesman for the emergency command explained.
The team of experts reportedly worked for about three hours to ensure the vessel’s cargo of around 100,000 tonnes of oil was evenly distributed between the tugs. Four sailors were lowered from a federal police helicopter onto the deck and then picked up again.
The tow convoy is moving at a speed of one to two knots (1.85 to 3.7 km/h), the spokesman said on Saturday night. It is necessary to overcome almost 25 kilometers. The maneuver is expected to last eight hours.
The 274-metre Eventin has been drifting unmanoeuvrably in the Baltic Sea north of Rügen since Friday evening after suffering a total power failure on board, a so-called blackout, which left its marker lights off. On Friday afternoon, the tanker was successfully connected to an emergency tug that kept it in place. Later, two additional ships were brought in for reinforcements.
In addition, the emergency tug “Baltic” is moving from the western part of the Baltic Sea to the Darser-Orta area to provide additional assistance.
The situation is complicated by the storm. According to the German Meteorological Service (DWD), wind gusts of up to 9 points are expected on Saturday morning and force 7 by Sunday.
It is claimed that no oil contamination has yet been detected. Environmentalists are monitoring the situation.
“Eventin” (2006) is included in Greenpeace’s list of ships of Russia’s “shadow fleet”.
Read also: Zelensky: TankerThe Russian fleet must stop in order to stop Russian attacks and threats According to shipping website Vesselfinder, the Eventin was reportedly on its way from the Russian Baltic port of Ust-Luga to Port Said, Egypt, although unconfirmed reports indicate the actual destination is an Indian port.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock quickly reacted to the incident, accusing Russia of condoning serious environmental damage with its shadow fleet while endangering tourism in the region.
Photo: dpa