“The local authorities provided certain equipment,” confirms Iryna Babanina, of the British NGO Conflict and Environment Observatory (CEOBS), a specialist in the consequences of war on the environment.
But operations directly on the water to prevent oil slicks from advancing are “impossible” due to a “shortage of equipment”, she emphasizes.
However, this shipwreck is “the first accident in the world involving ‘heavy’ fuel oil of M100 quality”, declared the Russian service responsible for sea rescues. A type of fuel oil which “does not float on the surface” and for which “it “There is no proven technology in the world to eliminate it in water.” “This is why the main method is collection on the coast,” says the same source.
Oil spill in Russia: the “critical” situation, state of emergency in Crimea
Cooperation prevented by war
The Black Sea is protected by the 1992 Bucharest Convention which provides for “cooperation in the fight against oil pollution”, explains Ms Babanina.
In 2007, Ukraine and Russia cooperated to stem a similar oil spill in the same area.
Today, “the deployment of special ships or planes is made impossible” by the war, says Ms. Babanina, for whom “the exchange of information” between Ukraine and Russia “is also problematic.”
“Only satellite images can provide a more or less reliable overview,” adds the specialist.
Analyzes of satellite images by Roscosmos, the agency responsible for the Russian civil space program, and by the Canadian Ministry of the Environment, consulted by AFP, show possible areas of oil in the Kerch Strait between the 18th and 23rd. December, and near Anapa, a seaside resort in southwest Russia, on December 19.
A more recent image, published and analyzed on December 31, shows a possible expanse of oil 3 kilometers south of Cape Meganom, in annexed Crimea.
“Ecological disaster”
Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized at the end of December that it was an “ecological disaster”.
Other oil disasters have led to much larger spills, like the 64,000 tonnes of fuel oil from the tanker “Prestige” spilled in 2002 off the coast of Spain, but the geographical characteristics of the Kerch Strait make the situation unique. .
The proximity to the Sea of Azov, on the other side of the strait, is a cause for concern.
This “very shallow” sea is more conducive to “temperature changes” with “freezing in winter and rapid warming in spring.” The situation therefore requires “prolonged monitoring”, insists Iryna Babanina.
In 2007, the 2,000 tonnes of fuel oil spilled in the Kerch Strait caused the death of tens of thousands of birds and fish, according to the authorities.
Russia: oil spill on nearly 50 km of beach after the sinking of two oil tankers
Increased risk of oil accidents?
“Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil logistics may have pushed the Russians to use obsolete ships,” says Ms. Babanina.
“Russia has used fairly old tankers of the ‘Volgoneft’ series, typically used as near-shore river and sea vessels, re-equipped to navigate greater distances at sea,” she explains.
The two tankers stranded in mid-December were built more than 50 years ago.
Furthermore, “the use of traditional oil pipelines has been decreasing since 2022”, and “the official transport of oil by tankers from Russia is limited by international sanctions” targeting Moscow, recalls the specialist.
If the two ships stranded in mid-December were indeed registered in Russia, these various factors also favored the birth of a “ghost fleet of ships registered abroad”. Their security is managed in a vague manner, which constitutes a “time bomb for the environment”, insists Iryna Babanina.
