Saveliev names deadline for completion of pumping out fuel oil from the stern of Volgoneft-239

The pumping of fuel oil from the stern of the tanker Volgoneft-239, which crashed in the Kerch Strait, is expected to be completed within two days. This was announced on January 24 by the head of the government commission on liquidation of the consequences of the oil spill, Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Savelyev. At the same time, a total of 1300 tons of fuel has already been pumped out of the tanker since the work began.

"1300 tons have been pumped out. We will cope within two days," Savelyev noted.

However, it will not be possible to pump out fuel oil from the tanks completely, said Deputy Prime Minister. Therefore, the tanker will be further utilized in parts.

"We will not completely remove the fuel oil, it cannot be polished and scraped off. <...> We have to remove this "flying Dutchman", then we will deal with the lifting of Volgoneft-212 and the bow part of Volgoneft-239," Savelyev said.

Deputy Prime Minister also noted that the project of utilization of the sunken parts of the two tankers is currently being developed, there are several options for carrying out the work.

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Earlier, on January 23, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Alexander Kozlov said that the Russian government will allocate 1.5 billion rubles to reimburse the costs of liquidation of the consequences of the tanker wreck in the Black Sea. Kozlov also added that Rosprirodnadzor will calculate within about three months the damage to nature from the fuel oil spill and will expose it in court to the perpetrators of pollution.

Earlier, on January 22, in the Krasnodar region, Crimea and Sevastopol found new emissions of fuel oil. In particular, the oil product appeared along 8.5 km of the coastline of the Azov Sea, in the area of Kuchugury tract on the Kuban.

Tankers "Volgoneft-212" and "Volgoneft-239" due to bad weather crashed in the Kerch Strait on December 15, 2024. The incident resulted in a spill of oil products. 27 people were evacuated from both vessels, one person died. On the instructions of the Russian President, a working group was set up to coordinate the work to eliminate the consequences of the emergency.

Later, on January 3, an oil slick was discovered in Sevastopol at the entrance to Balaklava Bay. The next day, it was reported that the fuel oil was moving northward along the Crimean coast, and Sevastopol declared a state of emergency of regional character. In addition, due to the identified fuel oil stains, a municipal emergency threat regime was introduced in the Chornomorsky district in the west of Crimea.