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Transneft sends equipment to clean up fuel oil spill in Anapa after incident with tankers

Earlier, acting head of the Russian Emergencies Ministry's regional directorate, Andrey Potakhov, said that the total length of the contaminated areas does not exceed 35 km

BLAGOVESHCHENSKAYA VILLAGE /Krasnodar Region/, December 17. /TASS/. Russian oil pipeline operator Transneft has sent equipment to clean up oil products to the coast of Anapa, where fuel oil spills occurred after the emergency with the Volgoneft tankers in the Kerch Strait area, at the moment all the pollution is being cleaned up manually, the region's governor Veniamin Kondratyev said on air at the Rossiya 24 TV channel.

"On my instructions, operational headquarters have been deployed in the Temryuk district and Anapa. If we detect new occurrences [of fuel oil], we try to collect the oil products and dispose of them. About 300 people are working on site, including many volunteers. I am also very grateful to companies. Transneft has allocated professional units that are capable of handling the spill of oil products at a high level. We are also waiting for equipment, I think that we will be able to handle the release of these oil products quite quickly," Kondratyev said.

"Transneft is helping to eliminate the spill of oil products. All necessary resources and means are currently being assessed. We will do our best to help," the company's press service told TASS.

Earlier, acting head of the Russian Emergencies Ministry's regional directorate, Andrey Potakhov, told TASS that the total length of the contaminated areas does not exceed 35 km, and 4 km have been cleaned up to date.

On December 15, the Volgoneft 212 and Volgoneft 239 tankers wrecked. The forebody of the Volgoneft 212 tanker was torn off, and the vessel ran aground. The crew was evacuated. One of the 13 crew members died. The tankers carried about 9,200 tons of fuel oil.

The Federal Agency for Sea and Inland Water Transport reported that an oil spill had occurred in the Black Sea as a result of the accident. The Investigative Committee has opened two criminal cases following the accident.

As satellite monitoring data shows a spill of approximately 3,000 tons of fuel oil.

On Tuesday, it became known that more than 35 km of coastal line in the Krasnodar region had been contaminated with oil products. In the areas around the city of Anapa an emergency regime was declared. Work is underway to eliminate the consequences of the oil spill.

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