Fuel oil still leaking from wrecked Russian tankers

Another spill of fuel oil from the stern of the wrecked Volgoneft 239 tanker that ran aground near the village of Taman was recorded in the Kerch Strait. The oil slick is almost 3,000 square meters large.

The Marine Rescue Service is taking measures to localize the spill, operational headquarters of the Krasnodar Territory reports.

"Monitoring groups found that oil products are leaking from the vessel. The extent of the damage is currently unknown. Marine Rescue Service specialists are on board the vessel to establish that," the report said.

The stern of the tanker was washed aground near the village of Taman. The footage published by the operational headquarters shows fuel oil accumulating in the surf zone.

The spill "will be localized using booms and then removed from the sea surface with biosorbent," the department said.

Divers are inspecting the stern of the tanker underwater. Five vessels and a coastal rescue service with special equipment have been sent to eliminate the spill.

Volgoneft 239 tanker sank on December 15 amid a powerful storm. Another tanker — Volgoneft 212 ran aground at around the same time. They were carrying a total of 9.2 thousand tons of fuel oil.

On January 9, the Ministry of Emergency Situations reported that more than 8,000 specialists and 800 units of equipment were involved in the works to eliminate the consequences of the accident. Over 1.5 thousand km of the Kerch Strait were inspected and 25 tons of oil-containing liquid were collected. In the Krasnodar Territory, fuel oil is being collected on 63 kilometres of the coast. Almost 140,000 tons of contaminated sand and soil have been collected. In Crimea and Sevastopol, more than 400 tons of contaminated sand and soil have been prepared for removal.