A dry cargo ship carrying 150 tons of fuel sank near Odessa: there is a risk of sea pollution

The Golden Leo cargo ship, which sank in the Gulf of Odessa after a Russian attack, may still have about 150 tons of fuel and several tons of engine oil on board. Due to the risk of a leak, monitoring of the Black Sea waters has been intensified in the region.

This was announced by the head of the Odessa Oblast Oblast Organization, Oleg Kiper, reports Dumska.

According to him, specialists are constantly monitoring the state of the water area in order to timely detect a possible leak of fuel and lubricants and assess its impact on the environment and shipping safety.

Rescuers, the environmental inspection, the Seaports Administration of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Scientific Center for Marine Ecology, the regional center for disease control and prevention, as well as other specialized services were involved in the monitoring.

In addition, communities along the Black Sea coast have been instructed to constantly monitor the condition of the water area. According to Kiper, in the event of even minor pollution, all necessary forces will be promptly mobilized to localize and eliminate the consequences.

At the same time, columnist for the Dumska newspaper Oleksiy Sukhyi believes that the situation could be serious. According to his assessment, the extent of damage to the ship’s engine room is still unknown, so a fuel leak cannot be ruled out.

The expert explained that the vessel is equipped with a multi-fuel diesel engine, and during the voyage to Odessa, its tanks could have contained about 300 tons of fuel. Since the dry cargo ship was attacked on the return journey, he estimated that about 150 tons of fuel oil or diesel fuel could have remained on board.

He emphasizes that this does not mean an imminent leak, but even a gradual release of oil products into the sea can cause significant damage to the ecosystem.

As previously reported, Russian forces attacked a Liberian-flagged civilian ship for the third time , anchored in the approaches to the port of Odessa. This time, the ship was without cargo and crew.