Volgoneft-239 tanker utilization works are planned to be completed by March

Specialists in the area of the Volgoneft-239 tanker wreck have started dismantling the vessel, and two months have been set aside for the complete dismantling of the stern part. Izvestia correspondent is watching the operation on January 31.

The day before, all the things were taken off the board, and now they are removing hazardous combustible materials - the first stage of the tanker's aft part utilization. Oil products from it have already been pumped out, in parallel the cutting of the hull has begun.

"We continue full support is lighting, firefighting equipment has been put out to carry out safe work on the tanker. The work is planned to be carried out around the clock," said Pavel Bykov, general director of OTEKO's liquid bulk terminal.

As Izvestia correspondent Anastasia Kharchenko reported, 12 meters of the hull have already been cut off, and it should be fully utilized by March 31. At the same time, the bow of the tanker and both parts of the other wreck are still lying on the bottom, and a plan for their recovery to the surface is still being worked out.

"We are looking for a solution. First of all, this solution must be safe for the environment. Today we also discussed preparations for the beach season. We are not giving up hope. We must prepare for the beach season of the current year. There is every reason for this," said Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Savelyev.

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Another 300 tons of fuel oil spilled after the disaster in the Black Sea are planned to be pumped out next week.

Earlier in the day, he said that the work on utilization of the Volgoneft-239 stern had begun. It is important that specialists managed to prevent scouring, and now the utilization of oil products and water and fuel oil liquid is underway, he specified. According to him, the complex of measures required to eliminate the consequences of the fuel oil spill from the Volgoneft-239, which ran aground in the Krasnodar Territory after the wreck, has been completed ahead of schedule.

The tankers Volgoneft-212 andVolgoneft-239crashed in the Kerch Strait on December 15, 2024 due to bad weather. The incident resulted in a spill of oil products. 27 people were evacuated from both vessels, one person died.

On the instructions of Russian President Vladimir Putin, a working group was set up to coordinate work to eliminate the consequences of the emergency. On January 23, the head of the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources, Alexander Kozlov, said that the Russian government would allocate 1.5 billion rubles to reimburse the costs of eliminating the consequences of the wreck of the two ships and the fuel spill.