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Over 14.5 tons of oily waste gathered along Black Sea coastline

Earlier, vessels of the Azov-Black Sea Branch of the Marine Rescue Service surveyed more than 10.6 sq km

MOSCOW, January 20. /TASS/. Professionals gathered more than 14.5 metric tons of oil-containing waste along the coastline after the shipwreck of tankers in the Kerch Strait, the Russian Marine Rescue Service said on its Telegram channel.

"The coastal emergency and rescue team of the Azov-Black Sea Branch of the Marine Rescue Service gathered 225 kg of oily waste from the area along the coastline; 14,565 kg by cumulative total. Efforts are underway to gather the petroleum product by special equipment (bucket) in the distressed ship area," the service informed.

Vessels of the Azov-Black Sea Branch of the Marine Rescue Service surveyed more than 10.6 sq km yesterday. "No pollutions were found," the service added.

In total, 2,220 m of floating booms were set in total near the aft of the Volgoneft-239 tanker, the authority noted.

On December 15, the Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239 tankers were caught in a storm in the Kerch Strait area in the Black Sea. The Volgoneft-212 subsequently sank while the other ship ran aground. 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 underway. According to the Russian Ministry of Transport, about 2,400 tons of oil has leaked into the Black Sea, much less than initially estimated.