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No concentration of oil in Black Sea after spill off Novorossiysk — source

The source in the emergency services emphasized that most of the petroleum had been promptly cleaned up

MOSCOW, August 11. /TASS/. There is no concentration of oil spots in the Black Sea after the oil spill off Novorossiysk, as the spilled oil was light and separated quickly into fractions, a source in the emergency services of the Southern Federal District told TASS on Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences used satellite imaging to estimate the area of the oil pollution off Novorossiysk at nearly 80 square kilometers.

"There is no concentration of oil stains. [The spilled oil] is light, quickly separates into fractions and does not accumulate on the water surface," the source said adding that most of the petroleum had been promptly cleaned up.

Russia’s Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport (Rosmorrechflot) told TASS on August 7 that oil was leaked into the Black Sea off Novorossiysk from the Greek-flagged tanker Minerva Symphony as she was being loaded at a terminal of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC). A taskforce was set up involving the CPC personnel and equipment. The CPC clarified that the leak occurred at 16:49 Moscow time, adding that the spill covered an area of about 200 square meters and amounted to about 12 cubic meters of crude.

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