KRASNODAR, January 16. /TASS/. Rescuers collected 102.3 cubic meters of oil-water mixture near the stern of the Volgoneft-239 tanker, which has been aground off the coast of the Black Seas in Russia’s Krasnodar region since the discovery of a fuel oil leak from this part of the vessel.
As the Federal marine rescue service reported on its Telegram channel, fuel oil leak from the stern of the Volgoneft-239 tanker was discovered on January 10 (a pollution spot with an area of 2,800 square meters).
The barge Picnic is moored to the stern of Volgoneft-239, the collection of oil products continues with the help of an onboard grab from the oil-filled water area into a garbage container placed on board the vessel, for further transfer to the auxiliary berth and replacement of the filled container with an empty one, the report says.
In the period from January 10 to the present, the volume of the collected and transferred oil-water mixture is 102.3 cubic meters, the report says. It is specified that more than 2.1 km of booms have been installed around the leak site. The rescuers examined more than 22.1 square kilometers of the Black Sea water area in the emergency zone, no pollution was found.
On December 15, the Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239 tankers sank in the Kerch Strait area in the Black Sea amid a storm. One sailor died, and the rest were evacuated. According to emergency services, the tankers were carrying about 9,200 tons of fuel oil. An oil spill occurred in the Black Sea as a result of the accident, and clean-up operations are ongoing.
According to the Russian Ministry of Transport, about 2,400 tons of oil products have leaked into the Black Sea, much less than initially estimated.
On December 26, a federal level state of emergency was introduced due to the oil spill.