New York Times wrote:MOSCOW, Nov. 12 — An environmental disaster began to unfold in southern Russia on Monday as tens of thousands of oil-slicked seabirds and globules of heavy oil dotted the shoreline, a day after at least 11 ships, including a small oil tanker, sank or broke apart in a fierce storm, Russian officials said.
Three bodies washed ashore and another 20 sailors were missing when searches were called off late Monday because of rough weather, Interfax reported, citing officials with the Russian ministry of emergency situations. But the officials added that any survivors were likely to freeze to death before they could be found.
A local official, Alexander Tkachyov, governor of the Krasnodar Region, said 30,000 seabirds were slicked with oil and would likely die, Interfax said. The World Wide Fund for Nature, a conservation group, said the heavy fuel oil also settled onto the seabed, surely destroying marine habitat and killing fish.
The tanker, a Volganeft-139, split apart as it was pounded by 18-foot waves in the Kerch Strait that links the Sea of Azov with the Black Sea, a strategic pathway for oil exported by tanker from Russia and the Caspian Basin to Europe. Its 13 crew members were rescued, but 1,300 tons of heavy, viscous oil — the equivalent of 560,000 gallons — were discharged into the sea.
“The environmental system of the region has sustained serious damage,” said Aleksey Zimenko, a conservationist with the World Wide Fund for Nature, according to Interfax. “The consequences will persist for many years to come.”
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