“There is a strong risk that the situation will worsen and that the scale of the crisis will become comparable to that in the Russian region of Krasnodar,” said the Russian leader of Crimea, Sergei Aksionov. On December 15, two oil tankers ran aground during a storm in the Kerch Strait, between Russia and Crimea, causing massive pollution which, for the moment, has mainly affected the coasts of the Russian region of Krasnodar. But it then also reached Crimea, in particular the large port city of Sevastopol, located around 250 km from the disaster site.
“The main goal is not to let oil products reach the shore and to use all available means to eliminate pollution in the water,” Sergei Aksionov said on Wednesday. He called for “clearly” coordinating the work of small vessels currently deployed to remove pollution and for continuing “permanent” aerial observation. The official also raised the possibility of creating a second center to care for birds victims of the oil spill and collected in Crimea.
Cetaceans found dead by the dozen
Several cetaceans were also found dead in Sevastopol, Pavel Kharlamov, a local deputy and head of a group of volunteers cleaning the beaches, said on Wednesday. Questioned by the TASS news agency, he said that “several” cetaceans had been found dead and that their remains were being “evacuated”. He did not specify their number or their species.
On Sunday, a specialized NGO based in Sochi, in southwest Russia, said that more than 30 cetaceans had been found dead since the start of the disaster, citing “a high” and “atypical” figure. According to the NGO, these victims are mainly Black Sea porpoises (Phocoena phocoena relicta), an already endangered species.
More than 2,000 tonnes of fuel oil escaped at sea
The two stranded tankers contained 9,200 tonnes of “heavy fuel oil”, at least a quarter of which (26%) escaped at sea, according to the latest estimate from the Russian Ministry of Transport, provided last week. Russian authorities and volunteers are carrying out a massive clean-up campaign, involving thousands of people, but the situation continues to cause concern.
More than 118,000 tons of contaminated sand and soil have been removed from dozens of kilometers of beaches on the Russian coast, the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry reported Tuesday. In Crimea and Sevastopol, at least 287 tonnes of petroleum products have been harvested since the start of operations, according to the same source, which adds that more than 5,550 birds were collected and “saved”.
Swiss
