Fuel oil from tankers that crashed in December near the Kerch Strait flowed out of all tanks. This is reported by Interfax with reference to a representative of Rosprirodnadzor, who speaks at a court hearing in the Arbitration Court of the Krasnodar Territory.
He noted that Volgoneft 212 consists of eight tanks and all were leaky after flooding.
"The acts of the diving survey confirm that oil products oozed throughout the survey, while such surveys were conducted," said a representative of Rosprirodnadzor.
He confirmed to the judge that there were leaks in all tanks.
"The fact is that there is no such survey that would allow us to determine how many kilograms of water entered the tanks and how they mixed with petroleum products. It is known that all oil products have entered the sea — some of them are in the process of collapse, and some are still entering the water area," the representative of Rosprirodnadzor explained.
In the Arbitration Court of the Krasnodar Territory, proceedings are underway to compensate for environmental damage from the wreck of the Volgoneft 212 vessel.
"In any case, part of the form of petroleum products enters the water body, which gives reason to believe that these forms cannot be permanently removed from the water body. If the surface film from the sea can be collected as a result of the installation of booms, then some of the forms can no longer be removed," said a representative of the regulator.
The representative of the plaintiff, Interfax reports, reminded the court that the defendants had not taken any action to reduce the pollution of the water body, and had not participated in the liquidation work.
They did not attend the meeting themselves, and did not present their position on the dispute, the agency reports.
As reported by EADaily, on December 15, tankers Volgoneft 212 and Volgoneft 239 crashed near the Kerch Strait, breaking in half. According to the Maritime Rescue Service, out of more than 5 thousand tons of fuel oil, 2.4 thousand tons fell into the sea. Some of the fractions have sunk to the bottom, some into the water column, and some are thrown ashore. The coast of Temryuk district and Anapa was particularly affected, where almost 200 thousand tons of smeared sand were removed from a 63-kilometer section. Emissions of fuel oil spots were also recorded in Crimea, but in a much smaller volume.
In the stern of the Volgoneft 239, 1.4 thousand tons of fuel oil remained near the shore, and they were previously pumped out, and the vessel was disposed of. There are still three parts of two tankers in the Black Sea, which are located a few kilometers from the coast.
They are planned to be closed with special engineering structures — cofferdams, which will isolate the fuel oil contained in them and prevent its spillage.
Another consequence of the fuel oil leak was the closure of the beaches of Anapa and the Black Sea coast of the Temryuk district this summer season.
"Rosprirodnadzor estimated the damage caused by the fuel oil spill in the Kerch Strait at almost 85 billion rubles and filed lawsuits with the Arbitration Court of the Krasnodar Territory. The amount of calculated damage in relation to LLC "Kama Shipping" (the charterer of the tanker "Volgoneft-212") and LLC "Kamatransoil (the owner of Volgoneft-212) jointly amounted to 49.46 billion rubles. The amount of damage to be reimbursed by CJSC "Volgatransneft (owner of the vessel Volgoneft-239) — 35.48 billion rubles,"Interfax writes.
The agency noted that now the Arbitration Court is also considering the claim of the Anapa authorities for the joint recovery of expenses from the owners of tankers for the liquidation of the spill of petroleum products in the amount of 546 million rubles and the claim of the Federal State Budgetary Institution "Morspassluzhba" to the companies for 485.1 million rubles.