RUSSIA ESTIMATES THE COST OF THE BLACK SEA OIL SPILL AT $1 BILLION
More than three months after the Black Sea oil spill, cleanup efforts continue in Russia’s Krasnodar region. Damages could reach $1 billion.
Local authorities reported that approximately 800 tons of oil-contaminated materials have been collected to date. Russian President Putin called it the worst environmental disaster in recent years, saying that efforts to clean up the situation were insufficient.
The spill occurred on December 15, 2024, when two Russian oil tankers ran into trouble in rough seas off the coast of Crimea, killing one sailor and causing an oil spill.
“A storm in the Black Sea damaged the Volgoneft 212 and Volgoneft 239 tankers. The incident caused an oil spill emergency,” the Russian Federal Agency for Sea and Inland Waterways Transport said in a statement.
According to Russian officials, the Volgoneft, 212 – 136 meters long and built in 1969, broke in half during the storm and ran aground, while part of the bow sank. The Volgoneft 239 – 132 meters long and built in 1973 – drifted after being damaged in the storm. Both ships have a capacity of more than 4,000 tons of oil products.
According to an announcement from the Russian Ministry of Transport, 2,400 tons of oil spilled into the sea, polluting more than 60 kilometers of coastline and seriously affecting marine life.
Two oil tankers sent out distress signals in the Kerch Strait, between the Crimean peninsula and mainland Russia. Local authorities at the time deployed two tugboats, two helicopters, and more than 50 people to join the rescue. Thousands of rescue workers and volunteers were then mobilized, working hard to clear tons of contaminated sand and soil from the area.
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the creation of a working group led by Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Savelyev to coordinate rescue operations and deal with the spill.
Russia’s Federal Transport Agency said the Volgoneft 212 and Volgoneft 239 had 15 and 14 crew members, respectively. The Russian Emergencies Ministry put the numbers at 13 and 14, later confirming that 13 sailors had been evacuated from the first ship, but one had died.
The Russian Emergencies Ministry said on January 12 that it had established a federal crisis response center to deal with the emergency related to the oil spill caused by the sinking of an oil tanker in the Kerch Bay in December 2024.
According to the announcement, Russian Emergencies Minister Alexander Kurenkov and members of the federal crisis response center – created by order of President Vladimir Putin – arrived in the city of Anapa on the northern Black Sea coast. The center’s members will work directly at the site of the emergency until the oil spill is eliminated. The center, which includes representatives of several federal ministries and departments, is authorized to make quick decisions on the spot.
Minister Kurenkov is in charge of monitoring the progress of oil cleanup work at sea.
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