As many as 5,000 tonnes of fuel may have spilled into the Black Sea from two Russian tankers struck by a storm on 15 December.
More than a month on, there are still many things we do not know about the two Russian tankers that were struck by a storm in the Black Sea in December. But, however partial and unofficial the information often is, it is becoming increasingly clear that the incidents have caused an environmental disaster of enormous proportions. According to some experts consulted by international media outlets, it may even be the worst Russia has had to deal with in the twenty-first century.
It was 15 December when, during a violent storm, the vessel Volgoneft-212 broke in two near the Kerch Strait, the stretch of water separating mainland Russia from Crimea, illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014. The incident claimed the life of one crew member. A second tanker (the Volgoneft-239) ran aground roughly 80 metres from the shore, near the port of Taman.
Both were very old vessels (the first had been built in 1969 and later refurbished, the second in 1973) and together they were carrying around 9,000 tonnes of fuel. Russian authorities maintain the cargo consisted of Mazut M100, a thick, viscous by-product of oil refining, typically burned in thermal power plants, cogeneration facilities, or other industries requiring low-cost heat sources.
After examining official statements, media reports and satellite imagery, the BBC reports that up to 5,000 tonnes of fuel have entered the sea, spread across the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. Local media describe an affected area that, taking into account both sea and coastline, extends across roughly one thousand square kilometres in total. These are estimates that are complex in themselves and become even more so when the available information is late and incomplete. According to Viktor Danilov-Danilyan, chief scientist at the Russian Academy of Sciences, "this is the first spill of such a quantity of fuel".
The impact on flora and fauna has been devastating. A statement by Greenpeace Ukraine reports 32 dead cetaceans (mainly porpoises) and thousands of birds with oil-soaked feathers. Being so dense and heavy, moreover, the fuel does not remain on the surface but tends to sink. This means that if it is not removed immediately, one must wait for it to biodegrade naturally — a process that takes decades. In the meantime, it accumulates in filter-feeding organisms such as molluscs, poisons benthic species (such as algae and crustaceans) and the fish that feed on them, with potential consequences for the food chain.
It is equally difficult to gauge the progress of clean-up operations. The New York Times reports, for instance, that the coastline near Anapa, a seaside resort on the Black Sea, was not cleaned up quickly enough: the only option now is to remove vast quantities of oil-soaked sand, effectively gutting the beaches. Workers, supported by hundreds of volunteers, have already been operating along around 800 kilometres of coastline, collecting roughly 160,000 tonnes of contaminated soil and sand and 25 tonnes of liquid. But it is slow, gruelling and painstaking work.
On Sunday 26 January, the Russian government announced that it had allocated a further 1.5 billion roubles (approximately 14.7 million euros) for clean-up operations. Three days earlier, President Vladimir Putin had ordered a study into the condition of Russia's tanker fleet and the latest scientific developments in remediating environmental disasters of this kind.
