EMEA News
No Spill Reported After Tanker Damaged in NSR Incident
A tanker laden with diesel was damaged by an ice floe on the Northern Sea Route (NSR) earlier this month after illegally entering icy Arctic waters, the Barents Observer reports.
Following the incident in the Matisen Strait, the Nordvik had 1800 litres of diesel oil pumped into the tanker Boris Vilkitsky last Wednesday, and two nuclear-powered icebreakers arrived to help the two ships leave the waters safely.
No oil was reported to have leaked from the vessel, although one of Nordvik's ballast tanks took in water after being struck by ice.
Russian authorities said the ship violated its permit from the Northern Sea Route administration by entering an area with medium ice conditions without an icebreaker escort.
The Nordvik, owned by Khatanga Commercial Sea Port, was traveling from Ob Bay to Khatanga with 4,944 tonnes of arctic diesel fuel, the Northern Sea Route Information Office said last week.
The Seafarer's Union of Russia said the ship should never have entered the area, according to a report in Barents Observer last week.
"Yesterday's accident was a direct threat to the lives of sailors and the ecology of the Arctic," Aleksander Bodnya said on the union's website.
"Vessels like that should not be sailing on NSR, simply because they are not capable of withstanding the ice conditions."
A search and rescue system for the area has not been fully developed, the union said, making a potential accident especially dangerous for a ship's crew.
"Not to forget the ecology," Bodnya added.
"A large amount of diesel fuel could have leaked out into the sea, and who would be there to clean it up, is quite unclear."
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev earlier this year said the NSR is poised for major growth as thawing sea ice makes the area more accessible.
