Six monitoring points for fuel oil control identified in Odesa region

Cleaning up fuel oil on the beach / Illustrative photo: Telegram channels

In Odesa region, the seashore is monitored every day at designated points to quickly detect and localise fuel oil spills.

Vladyslav Khrushch, Acting Head of the Inspectorate, said this during a briefing at the Odesa Regional Military on 30 January.

The following points have been identified to monitor the presence of contamination: beach «Fontanka», beach «Langeron» and beach «Zolotyi Bereh» at the 16th station of the Big Fontan. After the meeting of the Technogenic and Environmental Safety and Emergency Commission, additional points were identified, namely Zatoka, Prymorske (Lyman community) and Lyman.

He also informed about fuel oil stains in the National Park «Tuzly Estuaries».

«According to the inspection of the location, along the coastal strip, black substance foci ranging in size from 0.5 to 5 centimetres were found, with external features similar to oil products. The width of the line is between half a metre and two metres, and its length is 1214 metres. The distance from the sea is 24 metres. Samples were taken at the site», he said.

He also added that the situation with oil pollution is not monitored in the open sea, as oil products do not move in spots, some of them have settled on the seabed. The fuel oil is being thrown ashore in coked parts.

As a reminder, on 30 January, oil pollution was detected on the Black Sea coast near the villages of Kurortne and Mykolivka in Odesa region.

Prior to that, fuel oil was removed from the coast of Odesa region, near the Danube Biosphere Reserve.

Russian tanker accident

As a reminder, on 15 December 2024, near Cape Panagia in the Kerch Strait , the «Volgoneft» tanker ran aground, and 4 tonnes of fuel oil could have leaked into the sea. Later it became known that another tanker, the «Volgoneft-239», began to sink next. Its hull broke into two parts after being hit by a wave.

The leakage of fuel oil from two Russian tankers in the Black Sea caused a large-scale environmental disaster. The damage caused to the Black Sea ecosystem exceeds $14 billion.

Animal rights activists have recorded 32 deaths of cetaceans, including whales, dolphins and porpoises, following the accident with two Russian oil tankers «Volgoneft-212» and «Volgoneft-239». The deaths of the animals are most likely related to the fuel oil spill, which has already reached Feodosia, Alushta and Sudak.

As of 27 January, employees of the National Nature Park «Tuzly Estuaries» had collected up to four kilograms of fuel oil.