Greenpeace reports large oil slick in Black Sea after tanker attack off Russia's coast
After a naval drone attack on the tanker Aframax Rio off Sochi, Greenpeace has recorded an oil slick of about 25 square kilometers in the Black Sea. Russian authorities deny any pollution but have declared heightened alert in Krasnodar Krai.
Krasnodar Krai, Russia's Black Sea region, has been placed on heightened alert over a "possible spill of petroleum products." Governor Veniamin Kondratyev signed the order on the evening of October 13. The document says naval drone attacks on vessels in the Black Sea caused accidents and created a risk of an emergency in Gelendzhik and Novorossiysk. Meanwhile, the environmental organization Greenpeace has reported a new large oil slick, while Russian officials deny any pollution.
The tanker attack
The Liberian-flagged tanker Aframax Rio caught fire off Sochi's coast on October 6. A column of smoke was visible for kilometers, and the smell of burning reached central Sochi. Russia's Transport Ministry said uncrewed boats, or naval drones, had attacked the vessel. All 23 crew members were evacuated. Early reports said the tanker was carrying crude oil from Novorossiysk to India, but another account says it was sailing empty from Turkey and was due to load cargo in Novorossiysk on October 22–23.
On October 7, Rospotrebnadzor, Russia's consumer protection and public health watchdog, and Sochi Mayor Andrey Proshunin said the fire had caused no pollution. The Kremlin said the response was going well. Even so, swimming restrictions were imposed at Sochi's beaches.
Environmental findings
Greenpeace experts say the slick covers about 25 square kilometers. Satellite images showed that on October 7 the tanker was near Lazarevskoye, roughly 50 kilometers from the fire site, trailing petroleum products over about 8 square kilometers. By October 8 the vessel had passed Tuapse and the slick had grown to 25 square kilometers.
The environmental project Prozrachny Mir says pollution has spread as far as Anapa. Its specialists analyzed images from October 10 and 12 and found the slick had broken into patches and moved farther along the coast, including around Novorossiysk Bay and the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminals.
Volunteers have found birds coated in petroleum products; by October 12 the Anapa wildlife rehabilitation center reported 10 birds. Greenpeace believes the fire burned the tanker's bunker fuel rather than cargo, and calls the pollution serious but not catastrophic. On October 14, authorities said small amounts of petroleum products had washed ashore in Novorossiysk, but maintained they were not from the tanker.
