November 2007
Tragedy Follows Russian Storm
A storm that rocked the Crimean peninsula over remembrance weekend has lead to a human and environmental disaster. 3 sailors have been left dead, at least a further 15 are missing and thousands of tonnes of pollutants are seeping into the Sea of Azov from as many as 10 grounded or sunken ships.
Over the weekend, a fierce storm hit the landlocked Sea of Azov, nestled between Ukraine and the Russian Federation, causing waves of up to 5.5metres battered shipping around the Strait of Kerch, a stretch of water running between the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.
Whilst search and rescue teams hunt for the missing crewmen in an operation that has involved 165 rescuers and saved 35 sailors, environmentalists and officials from Russia's Emergencies Ministry are now beginning to examine the environmental hazard posed by the ships damaged in the storm.
Presently, the toll stands at 4 sunken freighters, 6 ships driven aground and an oil tanker with a cracked hull. Of greatest concern is the Volgoneft-139, which was at anchor at the time of the storm. Carrying over 4,000 tonnes of fuel oil, it is thought to have spilled around half its load as the tanker broke in two. Its cargo of fuel oil is seen to pose a greater threat than that of crude oil spills. Because fuel oil is so heavy and the cold winter temperatures may affect it, there is a risk of the fuel oil sinking to the bottom of the sea rather than floating on the surface, which would make managing and dispersing the spill much harder.
Oleg Mitvol, head of Rosprorodnadzor (the state environmental safety watchdog) stated that their main concern was that "the spill will continue [and] the problem may take a few years to solve." He further cautioned that "this is a very serious environmental disaster."
However, in addition to Volgoneft-139 and the cracked hull of another tanker, Volgoneft-123, which is not currently leaking, there are fears of the effects that the sinking of three transporters may have on the local environment. The Volnogorsk, Nakichevan and Kovel were each carrying up to 2,000 tonnes of sulphur and it is feared that their cargoes have leaked into the Sea. Whilst Mr Mitvol and his collegaues played down the environmental danger posed by the sulphur, claiming that fuel oil from their tanks posed a greater problem, president of the Green Cross environmental group Sergei Baranovsky sounded a much starker warning, stating that the sulphur could "potential be even more hazardous to nature than the oil."
Vladimir Sliviak of the environmental group Ecodefence was similarly gloomy about the situation: "the sea is going to be totally hopeless for the next decade." He went on to suggest that not only would Russian authorities fail to effectively clean up the area, but that "more oil has been spilled… than the 1,000 tonnes officially reported. Normally in Russia there is a tradition by officials of underestimating the consequences."
Moreover, the Sea of Azov is already heavily polluted, a legacy left over from Soviet times as the USSR fought to build its industrial and military capacity with scant regard for the environment.
Although still in the nascent stages of dealing with the disaster, issues of culpability have been raised. When interviewed, regional prosecutor Maxim Stepanenko told reporters that the captains of the ships had been warned well in advance of the heavy storms but chose to ignore the advice. He noted that it should have been obvious to them that the majority of their vessels, designed in Soviet times for river and inland sea transportation, would not have been constructed to withstand the kind of conditions seen at the weekend, which included 5.5metre waves and winds of 80mph. As the search and clean up operation continues, forecasters have warned of the possibility of further storms.
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