Greenpeace Warns of Environmental Catastrophe in Black and Azov Seas After Russian ‘Shadow Fleet’ Tankers Incident

International environmental organisation Greenpeace has warned of a new large-scale environmental disaster in the Black Sea following the accident of two Russian tankers, Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239, in the Kerch Strait.

According to Greenpeace, 4,300 tonnes of fuel oil and possibly other oil products are now spilling into the waters of the Kerch Strait, which connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, as a result of the accident of two tankers caught in a storm. 

The two Russian tankers were carrying fuel for the Russian fleet, and the vessels' tracking system has been offline for 12 days (tracking data from 1 October shows that the delivery route starts from Volgograd and ends in the Kerch Strait).

‘Any spill of oil or oil products in these waters could have serious consequences. The spill will most likely be determined by the prevailing wind and currents, which are currently moving to the north-east, and in the current weather conditions it will be extremely difficult to contain. If the contamination washes ashore, it will result in shoreline pollution that will be extremely difficult to clean up. The environmental impact will depend on the type of oil spilled. Heavy residual oil products such as fuel oil tend to cause more significant impacts, including on marine life. Given the potential for such significant environmental impacts, the focus should be on trying to minimise further spills. If the ships sink, there is the potential for a long-term release of oil and oil products,’ said Dr Paul Johnston, head of Greenpeace's research laboratories at the University of Exeter in the UK.

The region has already suffered from severe weather conditions, which led to the spill of 1,200 tonnes of fuel oil from a Russian tanker in 2007 off the Tuzla Peninsula. This led to serious damage that was observed even a year after the accident.  

Greenpeace notes that Russian officials are unlikely to take measures to reduce the environmental impact, so the organisation continues to monitor the situation. 

The Ukrainian Navy commented on the crash of two Russian tankers Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239 with oil products in the Kerch Strait on 15 December.

‘The Russian Federation has once again caused significant damage to the ecosystems of the Azov-Black Sea region and the temporarily occupied Crimea,’ the statement said.

According to the Navy, while the occupiers are trying to somehow organise a rescue operation from their shadow fleet vessels, which are more than fifty years old, oil products are freely entering the open sea. In particular, it is known that the Volgoneft 212 was carrying more than 4,000 tonnes of fuel oil.