Cleaning the Black Sea from Russian fuel oil could take 10 years

As a result of the accident of Russian tankers near the Kerch Strait, more than 4,300 tons of fuel oil and other petroleum products spilled into the Black Sea.

The elimination of the consequences of the large-scale pollution of the Black Sea with fuel oil, which occurred due to the accident of Russian tankers, may take decades. This is reported by Ukrinform.

Thus, environmentalists believe that, according to optimistic estimates, it will take about five years to clean up the Black Sea. In the worst-case scenario, the elimination of the consequences of pollution will take a decade.

The scale of the disaster is extraordinary, because the Russian tankers transported not only fuel oil, but also other petroleum products, including gasoline and diesel fuel. Many of these substances have already settled to the bottom, which significantly complicates their cleaning.

In addition to fuel oil, there were remnants of rags on board, soaked in oils that formed a mixture of different densities. The surface film was collected by boom barriers and sorbents, but the heavy fractions settled to the bottom. They mix with bottom sediments, algae and phytoplankton, and during high tides the fuel oil will rise again.

Earlier, USM reported that dolphins and birds are dying as a result of the accident of Russian tankers in the Black Sea.

In total, the losses from the accidents of Russian tankers in the Kerch Strait could reach $14 billion.

Recall that on December 15, two Russian tankers were sinking  in the Kerch Strait. The first to crash was the tanker “Volgoneft-212”, which was carrying 4 tons of oil. An hour later, the storm hit “Volgoneft-239”.

The cause of the accident was a strong storm. One of the tankers was cut almost in half by the waves. As a result of the accidents, 4,300 tons of fuel oil and other petroleum products could have spilled into the sea.