MOSCOW, August 11. /TASS/. An oil spill off Russia’s Black Sea coast near Novorossiysk is being carried away from the shore and poses no threat to people or coastal ecosystems, Spokeswoman for the Institute of Oceanology within the Russian Academy of Sciences Yulia Kononova told TASS on Wednesday.

"The [oil] spill poses no threat and the weather is working in our favor. The leak is being carried away from the shore by the current. Weather reports suggest a storm, which plays into our hands as the spill will be carried farther away to the sea. No damage to vacationers and coastal eco-systems is expected," the press secretary said.

The Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences earlier estimated the oil spill near Novorossiysk at almost 80 square kilometers, using satellite data. As the press office of Russia’s Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport (Rosmorrechflot) told TASS on August 7, the leak occurred as the Greek-flagged Minerva Symphony tanker was pumping in oil from a terminal of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) near Novorossiysk in Russia’s south.

An emergency response center was set up, involving the CPC’s personnel and equipment. As the CPC consortium specified, the spill spread over about 200 square meters and involved around 12 cubic meters of oil.