Nov. 27, 2008
The Sea of Azov, which forms a link between Russia and Ukraine, was the scene of a violent storm on November 11 that resulted in the sinking or running aground of at least 10 ships and the deaths of at least six sailors. One of the sunk vessels, the Volganeft-139, was an oil tanker carrying 4,800 tonnes (1.3 million gallons) of fuel oil when it split in two during the storm. Roughly half of the oil spilled into the water and began washing up on shore soon afterward. Experts are still assessing damages to the environment and wildlife.
The Volganeft spill took place in the narrow Kerch Strait, which separates the Sea of Azov from the much larger Black Sea, and could take years to clean up, environmental officials have warned. Cold winter temperatures are likely to push most of the oil far below the surface, making location and removal efforts even more difficult. According to Novosti, Vitaly Spiridonov of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in Russia claimed that the seabed's fauna and flora would suffer most, as "most of the fuel oil will settle on the bottom and will be thrown ashore [only] gradually."
The accident is also particularly devastating for the area where the spill took place, as the Kerch Strait serves as a passage between the two seas for migrating fish, including many endangered varieties. The strait is also a major route for southward bird migrations, and is also home to the Black Sea porpoise. Preliminary estimates reveal that some 30,000 birds have been killed as a result of the pollution, and Russian weather service experts have published a statement that water samples in the strait taken on November 13 contained 2.5 milligrams of oil per litre-"50 times above the acceptable concentration level."
As the WWF was committing some 4,000 volunteers to assist with cleanup efforts and called at the same time for Russia to adopt stricter transport legislation to prevent future disasters, Times Online reported allegations that 24 captains had been warned well in advance about approaching heavy weather, but that several had put to sea nonetheless. As for the Volganeft, it was originally designed for oil transport on rivers, and was not built to withstand such a storm. Alexander Minin, a senior academician at the Institute of Global Climate and Ecology, explained to Novosti that the cyclone causing the type of storm that occurred in the Kerch Strait is an annual phenomenon in the area, but that the storms have been moving further and further north, which Minin attributes to global warming.
