“According to preliminary estimates by eco-inspectors, the fuel oil leak caused material damage to the Black Sea ecosystem in the amount of more than 14 billion US dollars”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
According to the agency, relevant minister Svitlana Grynchuk held an online meeting with the Minister of Environment, Water and Forest Resources of Romania Mircea Feket and Acting Minister of Environment and Water of Bulgaria Petar Dimitrov.
It is known that the officials agreed to “coordinate joint efforts to limit access to the Black Sea of the outdated fleet of the Russian Federation, which poses potential threats to the marine ecosystem.”
According to them, “the lack of verified data on the consequences of the accident of Russian tankers on December 15, 2024 and the further spread of fuel oil remains a problem.”
As stated in Mindovkill, “as of today, satellite images show that contamination by Russian fuel oil has reached the city of Yevpatoria. UkrNTSEM continues to monitor the development of the extraordinary event.”
“Colleagues emphasized that our cooperation is not a service for Ukraine, but a joint responsibility. The Black Sea unites a number of European states. Despite the fact that mathematical models do not demonstrate the movement of the stain to the west, the consequences of the accident of Russian tankers carry risks for the entire Black Sea. We are talking about tens of kilometers of fuel oil film on the water surface deep into the Black Sea, thousands of kilometers of polluted coastline, thousands of dead birds and dozens of dolphins, disrupted food chains in ecosystems,” Grynchuk noted.
According to preliminary estimates by eco-inspectors, the fuel oil spill caused material damage to the Black Sea ecosystem in the amount of more than 14 billion US dollars.
Grynchuk reported that Ukraine has already applied to the secretariats of UN conventions, UNEP, UNESCO, the European Union, and the International Maritime Organization (IMO). We received feedback from the Secretariat of the Commission for the Protection of the Black Sea from Pollution regarding the need to hold an extraordinary meeting to consider this case.
Also, on January 27, the case will be considered at a meeting of the IMO Subcommittee on Pollution Prevention.
Two Volgoneft fuel oil tankers crashed in the Kerch Strait on Sunday, December 15, 2024 – according to the main version, due to a storm.
Later, the Russian Maritime Rescue Service said that as a result of the tanker accident in the Kerch Strait on December 15, 2.4 thousand tons of oil products leaked into the Black Sea.