Data: Wednesday, April 23, 2003,
From: Sutyagin greenalex99@mail.ru
To: enwl@lew.spb.org



В Финском заливе обнаружено огромное нефтяное пятно: версии

Друзья и коллеги,

как и обещал, высылаю уточненное сообщение об обнаружении нефтяного пятна. Как
выяснилось из публикации финской газеты Helsingin Sanomat, см. текст ниже,
нефтяное пятно обнаружено в районе порта Порво, причиной его появления стала
нефть, адсорбированная на тающем льде.

Финские специалисты связывают появление загрязненного нефтью льда со
сложной ледовой обстановкой во время зимней навигации, когда танкеры перевозящие
нефть из России (Приморск?) подолгу ждали помощи ледоколов для их дальнейшей
проводки. И, видимо, сливали загрязненные балластные воды, либо был аварийный
пролив нефти. Финны также утверждают что ранее загрязненное нефтью ледовое поле
находилось юго-восточнее - в Российских территориальных водах.

Площадь пятна 1 км на 300 метров.

На мой взгляд возможен и такой вариант событий: финские (и не только финские)
танкеры, перевозящие нефть из Приморска, несколько раз задерживались в порту
Приморска из-за слишком грязных балластных вод, слив которых в акватории порта
был для них запрещен. А их загрузка нефтью в этом случае была сильно ограничена.


Чтобы не иметь проблем с заправкой нефтью, возможно, нефтесодержащие балластные
воды были слиты до подхода к Приморску на трассе Приморск-Порво.

Александр Сутягин, проект "Мониторинг БТС"



Foreign - Tuesday 22.4.2003
Oil slicks found in Gulf of Finland; spills may have come from ships
trapped in ice


         The Hylje, a ship specially designed to fight oil spills, was
dispatched to the Porvoo area in the Gulf of Finland on Sunday night after an
observation flight detected an oil slick in the icy water earlier in the day.
         By Monday evening the ship had managed to scoop up about 1.5 cubic
metres of oil from the sea, a small fraction of the total amount that remains.
The process is made more difficult by the ice that remains in the sea.
         Nevertheless, Jouko Pirttijдrvi, who heads the oil-fighting
operation on the Hylje, says that the spill seems to be smaller than originally
feared. He expects that the slick, which is about one kilometre long and 300
metres wide, will be cleaned up in a day or two.
         Environment officials believe that the oil may have come from several
different ships trapped in the winter ice.
         "It would seem that several ships waiting for help from icebreakers
have let out bilge water from their engine rooms, as well as oily residue from
heavy fuel oil", says Kalervo Jolma, head engineer at the Finnish Environment
Institute.
         Jolma notes that this past winter, many ships sailing to Russia had
to wait for a long time before they could get help from Russian icebreakers.
"The place has been like a rest area for tourists that has been left in bad
shape".
         The Finnish Environment Institute is analysing samples of the oil.
         The water content is a good indicator of how long the oil has been in
the sea.
         Jolma believes that the spills may have originally occurred in
Russian waters southeast of the present location of the oil. Winds can push ice
at the rate of more than ten kilometres a day.
         From the vantage point of a helicopter, the black oil was in sharp
contrast with the surrounding white ice on Monday. Although it is a fairly large
vessel, the Hylje looked quite small, as it collected oil, sea water, and ice
with its front scoop.
         The surface of much of the ice was covered by a black oil mass. When
the sun heats the black surface, the oil seeps into small cracks which form in
the ice.
         "Fortunately the oil film is quite thin, and under these weather
conditions, it evaporates by itself", Jouko Pirttijдrvi explains.
         A second oil slick, which was much smaller than the first one, was
detected on Monday near the Porvoo Lighthouse.
         The current spills that are still largely bound by winter ice are
not expected to cause serious damage to sea birds or other marine wildlife in
the area.
         However, Finnish Environment Institute official Timo Asanti says
that the situation could become more difficult if large amounts of the oil
spread to the open sea. He notes that migratory birds often rest in areas where
the edge of the ice and open sea meet, and could therefore come into contact
with oil from the melting ice.
         Seals could also be at risk: some newborn pups have already been
seen basking on the ice in the Gulf of Finland.


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Химия (2003)

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