Heavy fuel oil from Russian tankers reached the Odessa region: ecologists sound alarm

According to glavcom.ua: After the sinking of tankers 'Volgoneft-212' and 'Volgoneft-239' in the Kerch Strait on December 15, 2024, residual heavy fuel oil has spread for 650 km along the shores of the Tuzlovskyi Limany National Nature Park. Scientists from the park have discovered a huge oil spill: from the 13th to the 19th kilometer in the sandy spill.

It has been found that the heavy fuel oil contains impurities of algae and sand, which remained on the seabed after the accident. Ecologists are calling on the Ministry of Environmental Protection of Ukraine to reconsider its actions in response to such cases, as the heavy fractions of heavy fuel oil can cause the most harm to the marine ecosystem.

In practice, it is indeed the heavy fractions that are the most toxic to the ecosystem: they cling to sand, accumulate, and enter the benthic fauna. Pollution has been recorded in the nesting zone of dozens of bird species, as well as in the reproduction of crustaceans, mollusks, and fish. This is not just an 'ecological signal', it is material evidence of an international crime.

The lifting of the wreckage of the tankers, which remained on the seabed, was supposed to take place by June, but Russian Deputy Prime Minister Vitaliy Savelyev stated that the vessels, along with 4,000 tons of heavy fuel oil, would be covered with special 'sarcophagi' and lifted through special hatches.

As a result of the sinking of the tankers in the Kerch Strait, heavy fuel oil continues to pollute the Black Sea, having reached the shores of the Tuzlovskyi Limany National Nature Park. Ecologists are demanding a reconsideration of approaches to the protection of the marine ecosystem, as heavy fuel oil can cause serious harm to the environment and living organisms in the sea.