Fuel oil is still leaking from a sunken Russian tanker into the Black Sea — mass dolphin release recorded

In the Kerch Strait on December 15, an accident occurred with two Russian oil tankers "Volgoneft-212" and "Volgoneft-239". Now the fuel oil has reached land in the Russian city of Anapa. However, part of the oil products remained in the sunken part of the vessel, and the fuel oil is gradually moving to the open waters of the Black Sea.

This was reported by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Scientific Center for Marine Ecology modeled the path of oil products distribution in the Black Sea for December 23-29, 2024.

The data from the previous modeling was confirmed — the fuel oil reached the land of the Russian city of Anapa.

As of December 23, the fuel oil slick is concentrated in the Kerch Strait area. In the following days, the fuel oil will gradually expand under the influence of wind and current.

Currently, fuel oil continues to leak from the sunken ship, polluting the Kerch Strait and the Crimean coast. But the pollution is gradually moving eastward, towards the open waters of the Black Sea.

It is predicted that from December 25, petroleum products will also begin to move in a northwestern direction — this may threaten that fuel oil will gradually reach the southern coast of Crimea.

In the future, the fuel oil may again spread north from the point where the ship sank, towards the Sea of ​​Azov.

The Ukrainian Scientific Center for Marine Ecology says that the main threat now is pollution of Ukraineʼs coastal protected areas, in particular the Opuk Nature Reserve and the Cape Takyl Landscape Park in Crimea.

As of December 23, it is unknown exactly how many tons of fuel oil remain on the sunken vessel and how quickly it is spreading, making predictions difficult. On the day of the incident, it was reported that the tanker Volgoneft-212 was carrying at least four tons of fuel oil.

The Russian scientific and ecological center for dolphin rescue "Delfa" wrote that during the storm on December 22, some of the bags used to collect sand with fuel oil after the accident of Russian tankers in the Kerch Strait were swept back into the Black Sea.

Animal rights activists record a mass release of marine life onto the shore. According to their data, in Novorossiysk, in Aleksino (60-70 km from Anapa), 8 dead sea otters were found: 6 on the shore and 2 in the water without visible traces of fuel oil. And in Stanytsia Blagovishchenska, an sea otter was found with traces of fuel oil, which died a few days ago.

In total, from December 15 to December 22, 2024, the death of 10 Azov workers was recorded — the cause may be a fuel oil spill.

For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine please follow us on X.