The Russian Academy of Sciences reported on the study of Spain's experience to combat fuel oil in the Black Sea
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- The Russian Academy of Sciences reported on the study of Spain's experience to combat fuel oil in the Black Sea
Scientists of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) are studying the experience of Spain for the elimination of fuel oil in the Black Sea. This was reported on January 20 by Stepan Kalmykov, Doctor of Chemical Sciences, Vice-President of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
In November 2002, off the coast of Spanish Galicia there was a large-scale spill of oil products as a result of the wreck of the tanker Prestige. As a result, about 90 thousand cubic meters of oil products fell into the sea.
"The experience of Spanish colleagues shows that mechanical collection (both manually and with the help of machinery) proved to be the most effective, while the possibilities of microbial decomposition were very limited due to both the narrow range of conditions and the duration of the process. <...> We are now actively studying the methods that the Spaniards used, because they solved these problems quite quickly," he told RBC.
Kalmykov called for the creation of large associations of scientists, rather than organizing separate scientific groups. In addition, he recommended testing those technologies that can be applied to large territories and large volumes of pollution. The vice-president of the Russian Academy of Sciences stressed that at the moment boom protections on the surface are being applied in the Black Sea water area, as well as testing methods to search for fuel oil stains and their localization.
"It is difficult to accurately name these terms (liquidation of fuel oil. - Ed.). If nothing is done, self-cleaning will take quite a long time - years. I repeat, in case of consolidation of efforts and depending on what methods we will apply to clean several objects: it is the bottom, it is water and water surface, the shore - these terms can be greatly reduced. The most important thing now is to select effective methods and technologies," he concluded.
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 Russian President Vladimir Putin, a working group was set up to coordinate work to eliminate the consequences of the emergency.
On January 2, 2025, the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation reported that 2.4 thousand tons of oil products had fallen into the Black Sea.
January 17, deputy head of the Krasnodar regional emergency rescue service "Kuban-SPAS" Oleg Chelyadinov said that from the main area of beaches in Anapa was completed removal of sand contaminated with fuel oil. On January 19, it was reported that access roads were laid to the tanker Volgoneft-239 to prevent new fuel oil discharges from the stern. Work continues to clean the water area around the remaining part of the tanker.
