去年12月，两艘老化的油轮在黑海解体并沉没，其船东目前正面临多起诉讼。事故发生后，俄罗斯展开了大规模的清理工作，目前俄罗斯当局正寻求收回清理漏油的费用。

这两艘名为Volgoneft-212和Volgoneft-239的船只是在苏联时期建造的，其设计不能承受恶劣的远海环境。他们的沉没被描述为俄罗斯几十年来最严重的环境灾难之一。

2024年12月15日，在一场严重风暴中，Volgoneft-212油轮在距离刻赤海峡约5海里处断裂成两半并沉没。

俄罗斯气象机构曾警告称，海浪将超过25英尺，但这艘已有50年历史的船只无法承受这种情况。

船上载有4300吨mazut，一种低质量的残余燃料油。不久之后，Volgoneft-239也解体并在塔曼附近搁浅，向大海中泄漏了同样数量的mazut。

石油泄漏迅速蔓延，污染了俄罗斯克拉斯诺达尔地区和克里米亚沿岸的海滩。环境专家估计，2400吨石油产品泄漏到黑海，导致12月26日联邦进入紧急状态。

这场灾难导致海洋野生动物和海鸟死亡，从受影响的海滩上清除了15万吨受污染的沙子。

作为对环境破坏的回应，已经对船东Volgatransneft CJSC和Kama Shipping LLC提起了多项诉讼。

俄罗斯打捞机构Morspasluzhba（Morspas）正在起诉Volgatransneft，要求收回清理工作的全部费用。克拉斯诺达尔仲裁法院正在审理此案，听证会将于4月初开始。

Volgatransneft曾要求将此案移交给莫斯科法院，但这一请求被拒绝了。与此同时，阿纳帕市也对Volgatransneft和Kama Shipping提起诉讼，要求支付240万美元的海滩清理费用。

市政府官员表示，预计未来几年将有更多的废物被冲上岸，他们计划相应地增加索赔额。

俄罗斯交通检察官已分别对这两家公司提起了诉讼，俄罗斯海上救援署（Russian Maritime Rescue Service）也启动了法律程序，定于4月7日在克拉斯诺达尔仲裁法院举行听证会。

船东们已经请求法院设立赔偿基金，每人赔偿5.33亿卢布（603万美元）。这些资金旨在支付Morspasluzhba和其他受影响方可能提出的潜在索赔。

Volgatransneft CJSC的一位代表解释说，俄罗斯海事法允许船主限制责任，将总赔偿金额定为451万常规单位，这比最初的索赔金额要高得多。

这一保证将持续到2030年12月16日，包括未来6年内可能出现的潜在诉讼。

据俄罗斯共产党议员阿列克谢·库里尼（Alexei Kurinny）称，这些船只为污染相关损害投保了最高3,000万美元的保险，远低于漏油造成的估计3亿美元的环境损失。

调查显示，丢失的油轮是向俄罗斯新罗西斯克附近受制裁的“黑暗舰队”供应燃料的船队的一部分。根据俄罗斯调查媒体IStories的报道，这些船只向至少三艘美国制裁的油轮运送燃油。

俄罗斯交通部证实，沉没油轮上的燃料油属于俄罗斯石油公司（Rosneft），这家国有石油巨头在2023年实现了140亿美元的利润。

尽管经过了几个月的努力，12月15日的漏油事故对环境的影响还远远没有结束。紧急情况部警告说，天气变暖引发了新的浮油，使清理工作进一步复杂化。

▲Screengrab from YouTube video posted by 10 News First

英文原文

The owners of two aging tankers that broke apart and sank in the Black Sea in December are now facing multiple lawsuits.  A massive clean up effort was launched after the incident and the Russian authorities now seek to recover the costs of the oil spill cleanup.



The vessels, Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239, built during the Soviet era were not designed to withstand harsh open-sea conditions.  Their sinking has been described as one of Russia’s worst environmental disasters in decades.



The Volgoneft-212 tanker broke into two and sank about five nautical miles from the Kerch Strait during a severe storm on December 15, 2024.



Russian meteorological agencies had warned of waves exceeding 25 feet, but the 50-year-old vessel could not withstand the conditions.



It was carrying 4,300 tonnes of mazut, a low-quality residual fuel oil.  Shortly after, the Volgoneft-239 also broke up and ran aground near Taman, spilling a similar load of mazut into the sea.



The oil spill spread quickly, contaminating beaches along Russia’s Krasnodar region and Crimea.  Environmental experts estimate that 2,400 tonnes of oil products leaked into the Black Sea, leading to a federal state of emergency on December 26.



The disaster killed marine wildlife and seabirds, with 150,000 metric tons of contaminated sand removed from affected beaches.



In response to the environmental damage, multiple lawsuits have been filed against the shipowners, Volgatransneft CJSC and Kama Shipping LLC.



The Russian salvage agency Morspasluzhba (Morspas) is suing Volgatransneft to recover the full cost of the cleanup.  The case is being heard in Krasnodar’s arbitration court, with hearings set to begin in early April.



Volgatransneft had requested the case be transferred to a Moscow court, but the request was denied.  Meanwhile, the city of Anapa has also filed a lawsuit against both Volgatransneft and Kama Shipping, demanding $2.4 million to cover beach cleanup expenses.



City officials have stated that more waste is expected to wash ashore in the coming years, and they plan to increase their claim accordingly.



Russian transportation prosecutors have filed separate lawsuits against both companies, and the Russian Maritime Rescue Service has also launched legal proceedings, with hearings scheduled for April 7 in the Krasnodar arbitration court.



The shipowners have petitioned the court to establish compensation funds of over 533 million rubles ($6.03 million) each.  These funds are meant to cover potential claims from Morspasluzhba and other affected parties.



A representative from Volgatransneft CJSC explained that Russian maritime law allows vessel owners to limit liability, setting the total fund at 4.51 million conventional units, an amount that is greatly higher than the initial claims.



This guarantee will remain in effect until December 16, 2030, covering potential lawsuits that may arise within the next six years.



According to Communist Party MP Alexei Kurinny, the vessels were insured for a maximum of $30 million for pollution-related damages, far below the estimated $300 million in environmental losses caused by the spill.



Investigations have revealed that the lost tankers were part of a flotilla supplying fuel to Russia’s sanctioned “dark fleet” near Novorossiysk.  Per reports from Russian investigative outlet IStories, these vessels transferred fuel oil to at least three US sanctioned tankers.



Russia’s Ministry of Transport has confirmed that the fuel oil aboard the sunken tankers belonged to Rosneft, the state-owned oil giant that posted a profit of $14 billion in 2023.



Despite months of work, the environmental impact of the December 15 spill is far from over.  The Emergency Situations Ministry has warned that warmer weather has triggered new oil slicks, further complicating the cleanup.

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