Accident of two Russian tankers in Kerch Strait threatens environmental disaster - Greenpeace
The accident in the Kerch Strait of two Russian tankers caught in a storm on December 15 resulted in more than 4,000 tons of fuel oil and other oil products spilling into the water. Greenpeace environmentalists say this could have serious environmental consequences.
This is reported by the press service of Greenpeace Ukraine, Censor.NET informs.
The organization says that "both Russian tankers were on their way with a cargo of fuel for the Russian fleet, and the system for determining the location of ships had been turned off for 12 days." Tracking data from October 1 shows that the delivery route starts in Volgograd and ends in the Kerch Strait.
"If the contamination washes ashore, it will result in coastline 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 have a more significant impact, including on marine life. If the ships sink, there is a possibility of 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.
Greenpeace recalled that the leakage of 1.2 thousand tons of fuel oil from one Russian tanker, which occurred in 2007 near the Tuzla Peninsula, led to "serious damage that was observed even a year after the accident."
Earlier it was reported that two Russian tankers were sinking in the Kerch Strait, one of them was broken in half.
