Oil slick devastates ecology of Black Sea
- From: "Jason P" <jaspetr@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2007 09:12:10 -0800
Oil slick devastates ecology of Black Sea
CHRIS BALDWIN IN KAVKAZ PORT, RUSSIA
LONG stretches of Russia's Black Sea coast face an ecological catastrophe,
authorities said yesterday, after a fierce storm broke up a tanker,
disgorging hundreds of tonnes of oil onto the shore.
Officials said tens of thousands of sea birds and large numbers of fish had
died as a result of the spill.
Three seamen were drowned and a search was under way for five others still
missing last night, though hopes of finding them alive were dwindling.
About 200 miles to the south-west, near the Ukrainian port of Sevastopol,
there was also concern for another 15 sailors missing after their scrap
metal ship went down in heavy seas.
Fuel oil coated birds in a thick black sludge along a vast expanse of
coastline in the northern mouth of the Black Sea, near Russia's border with
Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin, the Russian president sent Viktor Zubkov, the prime
minister, to the scene to oversee the clean-up.
"The damage is so huge it can hardly be evaluated. It can be compared to an
ecological catastrophe," Alexander Tkachyov, governor of Krasnodar region,
said.
"Thirty thousand birds have died and it's just impossible to count the loss
of fish."
The storm on Sunday sank the tanker and at least four freighters while
crippling other vessels in the narrow Kerch Strait between the Black Sea and
Azov Sea. At least five other ships ran aground.
Rescuers yesterday found the bodies of three sailors missing since the
storm. Helicopters and rescue vessels were searching for five seamen still
missing but, with a new storm on its way, officials said hopes of finding
them alive were dwindling.
Environmentalists - backed by Viktor Yanukovich, Ukraine's prime minister -
said the incident raised questions about safety standards for shipping in
the region.
Russian officials said the captains of several vessels had put to sea
despite warnings of the storm. The tanker that was the source of the spill
was built in the 1970s and was not designed for heavy seas, officials said.
At Novorossiisk, Russia's second port for exports of oil, officials had
ordered tankers not to dock because a new storm was on its way. The
worsening weather, forecast to last until this evening, was hampering rescue
operations, said Anatoly Yanchuk, a rescue chief at Russia's transport
ministry.
"We will continue efforts to find those five missing, but the chances of
finding them are now smaller," he said from the port of Kavkaz, which
overlooks the strait. "The weather is worsening and the number of rescue
vessels has been cut."
The oil spill came from the Volgoneft-139, a small Russian tanker. Officials
said it had released at least 1,300 tonnes of fuel oil into the sea, though
Greenpeace said it estimated up to 2,000 tonnes out of the total cargo of
4,800 tonnes (1.3 million gallons) were spilled.
"In Russia we do not have 100 per cent of our ships maintained in a suitable
condition as in the West," Alexei Kiselyov, the co-ordinator of Greenpeace
Russia's anti-pollution campaigns, said. "In the last few days we have seen
a very clear demonstration of that."
At the coastal settlement of Ilyich, halfway between Kavkaz and
Novorossiisk, about 100 workers were on the beach using shovels and a
bulldozer to scrape oil off the sand.
"This oil came in last night, along an eight-mile stretch of coastline,"
said Alexander Mikhalkov, a clean-up crew foreman.
A flock of about 1,000 rails, a species of wetland bird, were huddled on the
beach, unable to fly because their feathers were coated with oil.
The polluted area is also at the heart of the migration route from central
Siberia into the Black Sea of red-throated and black-throated Siberian diver
birds.
It remains to be seen just how much environmental damage will be caused -
much depends on the location of the spill, local currents and sea
conditions. The storm could actually help to disperse the slick.
The spill is relatively small compared with others such as the 64,000 tonnes
of fuel oil leaked by the tanker Prestige in 2002, which hit the Portuguese,
Spanish and French coasts.
Ukraine's prime minister urged a review of environmental safety in the Kerch
Strait, a busy waterway which separates Ukraine's Crimea peninsula and
southern Russia.
He said currents were taking the slick away from Ukraine's coastline.
"In the Bosphorus Straits, it's not possible to use tankers which have no
double hulls. How is the Kerch Strait different? It isn't," Mr Yanukovich
said.
WWF, the world's largest conservation organisation, said it hoped "the Black
Sea catastrophe will lead Russia to adopt a law guaranteeing proper safety
of oil operations at sea and on rivers".
SHIP'S CREW FACE CHARGES OVER OIL SPILL
A SHIP'S crew is being held for questioning in connection with the worst oil
spill in San Francisco Bay for nearly 20 years.
Investigators in the United States were yesterday considering whether to
file criminal charges. The thick, toxic fuel has fouled miles of coastline,
forced the closure of nearly two-dozen beaches and piers and killed dozens
of seabirds.
Crew members of the Asia-based Cosco Busan were questioned on board the
vessel, which struck the Bay Bridge last week, ripping a gash in its fuel
tank, said Christopher Tribolet, a lawyer for the US Coast Guard.
The ship is being detained at the Port of Oakland under the International
Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea.
The Coast Guard has notified the US attorney's office about problems
involving management and communication between the officers on the bridge at
the time of the crash.
The ship struck the bridge early on Wednesday, causing no structural damage
but leaking 58,000 gallons of fuel oil into the bay. Fog meant visibility
was poor at the time - between a quarter and an eighth of a mile.
This article: http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1794342007
Last updated: 13-Nov-07 00:40 GMT
--
(c) The Scotsman
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1794342007
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