nearly 5,000 birds saved – RT in French

More than 4,800 birds were saved in the districts of Anapa and Temryuksky, in the Russian region of Krasnodar, following fuel oil pollution after the sinking of two oil tankers, the regional operational headquarters reported on January 5.

“More than 4,800 birds were saved in the Anapa and Temryuksky districts”, in the Krasnodar region, after the oil spill in the Kerch Strait, the operational headquarters said on its Telegram channel on January 5 from the Kuban.

“Birds soaked in fuel oil are taken to points where work is carried out around the clock on their washing, treatment and preparation for sending them for rehabilitation. There are five such points on the coast,” it is stated in the report.

It also indicates that more than 2,000 birds have already been transferred to rehabilitation centers in several regions of Russia. Those “whose state of health does not worry experts have begun to be released in Krasnodar.”

The day before, the same source reported that 160 great crested grebes had been released. Before being released, “all birds were examined by veterinarians and ornithologists,” specified the Kuban operational headquarters.

Situation in the Black Sea after the sinking of two oil tankers

Two tankers, Volgoneft 212 and Volgoneft 239, sank in the Kerch Strait on December 15 during a storm. In all, 27 sailors were evacuated, one of them having died.

According to the Russian Transport Ministry, around 2,400 tonnes of oil products spilled into the waters of the Black Sea. The pollution affected 54 kilometers of coastline. In total, about 96,000 tons of sand, containing fuel oil, were removed from the coast of Kuban, the governor of the Krasnodar region, Veniamin Kondratiev, said on his Telegram channel. He said 7,000 people were involved in emergency operations.

This disaster has the particularity of involving heavy fuel oil. Unlike other petroleum products, its density is close to that of salt water, which complicates clean-up operations at sea. “There are no proven technologies in the world to remove it from the water column” , underlined in particular the Russian Ministry of Transport.

On December 26, a government commission imposed an emergency regime at the federal level.