Oil Leaking Again from Sunken Tanker in Kerch Strait
Oil has resumed leaking from the bow section of the tanker Volgoneft-239, which sank in December 2024, according to satellite imagery analysis. Slicks of 2–10 km have been observed in early July 2026.
The Russian open-source intelligence project SkyEye, analyzing satellite imagery from early July 2026, has detected renewed oil leakage from the bow section of the tanker Volgoneft-239. This tanker, along with the Volgoneft-212, was wrecked in a severe storm in the Kerch Strait in December 2024, causing a major oil spill.
Greenpeace confirmed to the BBC that petroleum products have been leaking regularly in the area since early July. According to the group, satellite images almost constantly show oil slicks ranging from 2–3 to 8–10 kilometers (roughly 1 to 6 miles) in length.
Metal sarcophagi were built over both sunken tankers to isolate them and later pump out the fuel oil, SkyEye noted. The current leak may be linked to rising water temperatures in the Black Sea, the warming of the fuel oil, and the migration of lighter fractions through gaps in the joints, as well as the ongoing work to pump out petroleum products, the project suggested.
The tankers Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239 were carrying about 9,200 tons of fuel oil in total when they sank. The spill contaminated dozens of kilometers of coastline in Krasnodar Krai, prompting authorities to declare all beaches in Anapa unfit for swimming in the summer of 2025. They were reopened to tourists in 2026.
