Greenpeace Sounds Alarm Over Kerch Strait Oil Spill

Greenpeace sounded an alarm about the environmental risks posed by the recent oil spill in the Kerch Strait, warning of a potential ecological catastrophe, Russian media Meduza reported on December 15.

According to media reports, the 2 tankers involved in the incident may have been carrying up to 5,000 tons of oil products each. “If this quantity of crude enters the sea, it could become one of the largest environmental disasters in the Black Sea region,” Greenpeace stated.

According to Russian media and the Russian Federal Agency for Sea and Inland Water Transport, 2 tankers collided during the storm near Kerch. As a result, one of the crewmembers of the Volgoneft-212 tanker died, and another 12 were recovered.

Volgoneft-239, which was sinking in the same area, reportedly managed to reach the ground, yet no confirmation of that information was released.

The organization also reminded the public of a similar incident in the Kerch Strait in 2007, when a Volgoneft-class tanker sank, spilling 1,600 tons of fuel oil into the sea.

That disaster contaminated tens of kilometers of coastline and severely harmed marine and coastal ecosystems. Heavy oil fractions settled on the seabed, killing benthic organisms that sustain fish populations, while lighter oil products created a slick on the water’s surface, resulting in mass deaths of aquatic birds.

Earlier, a Russian oil tanker, Volgoneft-212, carrying 13 crew members and approximately 4,300 tons of fuel oil, broke apart near the Kerch Strait