Small petroleum deposits being cleared from Novorossiysk shoreline

Small deposits of petroleum products have been found on the Novorossiysk shoreline, the Krasnodar regional emergency headquarters said on October 14. Samples have been taken to establish their composition and origin.

According to the regional civil defence and emergencies ministry, the substances are not the petroleum products carried by the tanker damaged earlier in October. The headquarters relayed that assessment, but did not identify the source of the pollution.

The cleanup involves 42 personnel from Kuban-SPAS and the Novorossiysk municipal rescue service, supported by 11 vehicles and other pieces of equipment. Environmental monitoring continues around the clock in coastal municipalities.

At the time of its statement, the headquarters reported no substantial shoreline deposits or large oil slicks on the sea surface. That describes the current monitoring results, rather than asserting that no traces of pollution exist.

On October 13, Governor Veniamin Kondratyev introduced a heightened readiness regime in Gelendzhik and Novorossiysk because of a potential spill following incidents involving Black Sea vessels. His order linked those incidents to unmanned boat attacks on October 6.

A Liberian-flagged vessel carrying oil caught fire off the coast on the evening of October 6. The Transport Ministry reported the next day that open burning on the tanker had been extinguished. The regional headquarters had previously said marine rescue specialists found no confirmation of spill reports that followed the fire.