The fate of the Russian tanker Khatanga, which got stuck in the Poland

The Russian tanker Khatanga has been in the port of Polish Gdynia for eight years. But on May 5, his fate was decided — the ship will be sent to a special shipyard in Denmark. But what awaits him next? The publication writes about this Gazeta.Pl .

The Khatanga docked at the port of Gdynia in 2017 and has not been moved since. The vessel was stopped allegedly for technical inspection, which gave a negative result. The planned repairs that would have allowed the ship to sail were also not carried out. In 2020, the owner of the vessel — Murmansk Shipping Company — declared bankruptcy. Thus, the Russian tanker in the Polish press began to be called "a burden for the port."

In the end, a decision was made on further disposal. Currently, all technical and environmental measures have been completed, fuel fluids on board have been completely removed. According to Kalina Gerblinska, spokeswoman for the Gdynia Port Authority, the vessel has already been classified as waste in accordance with current European Union regulations.

The vessel must be disposed of because it poses a danger to traffic in the port and other vessels. "Khatanga" has already broken out of port twice. The danger is also represented by the residual gas from the transported substances, which, according to the Poles, may still be present inside. The stay of the tanker also entails significant costs.

"The port will seek to sell this vessel in order to cover at least part of the obligations incurred as a result of non—payment of downtime by the Russian shipowner," representatives of the port of Gdynia reported back in February.

The costs of these obligations amount to 13 million zlotys (about 2.99 million euros).

The disposal of such a large vessel, which is being prepared on the territory of Denmark, is not an easy task requiring the appropriate infrastructure. The length of the tanker is more than 150 meters, the width is 26 meters, and the weight is more than 15,000 tons. For many years he was engaged in the transportation of crude oil and petroleum products.

The port management confirmed that the Khatanga will be sent to a certified The EU is a Danish shipyard specializing specifically in recycling.

"We are waiting for documentation from Miljøstyrelsen (Danish Environmental Protection Agency — EADaily), the local equivalent of the General Inspectorate for Environmental Protection. Without a complete set of documents, it is impossible to start the procedure for removing the object from the port. This is a multi—stage process that requires international cooperation," the Port of Gdynia confirmed.