Hristo Alexiev with 5 scenarios for taking the ship out
Expert: If not done soon, there is a serious risk to benthic ecosystems and invertebrate and fish populations
Water sample: Nitrogen is 4 times higher than normal
On Wednesday, Transport Minister Hristo Alexiev fired the head of the Maritime Administration Executive Agency, Captain Zhivko Petrov. This decision, predicted by the famous Bulgarian diver Mihail Zaimov, was announced yesterday afternoon.
In place of Petrov, the Minister has appointed Captain Ventsislav Ivanov, who was already head of the administration. The dismissal is due to a series of inadequate actions around the Turkish ship “Vera Su” stranded on Kamen Bryag and due to the change of an approved unloading technology, during which part of the cargo was dumped into the sea.
Alexiev said that for years there have been no procedures on how to act in such situations, and there is no equipment.
The minister denied there was a delay in the caretaker government’s response. “We are not a pirate country, so that the moment a ship gets stuck, we go on board and take it,” he said. The shipowner was expected to make a plan on how to deal with it, but after it became clear that this was not happening, on Sunday the minister issued an order to detain the ship.
He saw sabotage
in the signals
to Brussels,
that the sea was polluted, which was not true. “As long as I am a minister, I will not allow sabotage, whether because of the election campaign, political, lobbying or commercial interests,” he said, and allowed sabotage by the administration.
He had doubts about trade and lobbying, but he did not have enough facts. When he receives them, he will present them.
We are currently working on five scenarios for the safe removal of the ship. Contact has been made with three international rescue companies working on a plan to bring the vessel out.
An option is being developed to fill the cargo in large bags of a ton and a half and
with helicopters
to be exported
from the ship,
but it depended on the weather – on the waves of the sea and the wind.
An option that has been tried so far – with a crane – is being discussed, but each technology must be agreed with the Ministry of Ecology.
There were opportunities to use grain machines, it is being studied, but it seems that this is not the best way, Alexiev said.
Once the plans are ready, one will have to choose one that is to protect the environment and people, be the fastest and still be financially affordable, as the money will be presented to the shipowner.
The idea of placing anchors on the Navy to strengthen the ship also did not materialize due to bad weather and excitement, reaching 3-4 points.
How are they
developed
events before
the ship yes
stuck?
Alexiev said there were so many non-compliant and unassigned procedures that it would take an hour to list them. There was no communication with the ship’s crew for three hours. “It’s normal for a boat to go and stop them,” Alexiev said, wondering why it hadn’t been done.
From the moment the vessel deviated, 20 minutes passed before it ran aground. The competent institutions had to take samples from the people in the crew, Alexiev added. To identify any gaps, he will appoint an audit throughout the case.
“Vera Su” pantry
of “stuck
Street”
“The ship is a picture of the carelessness of the sea rescue for decades. “While they were busy privatizing the navy, concessioning ports, dredging for hundreds of millions with unclear contracts and unclear results, this is what we see at the moment,” President Rumen Radev told reporters.
What will be the environmental consequences of the drama with “Vera Su”? They are described in detail in the opinion of Dr. Dimitar Berov from the Laboratory of Marine Ecology, IBEI-BAS.
“Laboratory analyzes of water samples taken by diver Naiden Nedev near the bow of the shipwreck on September 25, confirm the presence of pollution with nitrogen compounds …
The spill of urea in the sea observed on 27.09.2021 during the rescue unloading has certainly contributed to the additional pollution …
The release of the quantities of nitrogen available on board the ship in the marine environment will be the equivalent of the discharge of wastewater from most settlements on our Black Sea coast at one point in the region of Yayla. The effects of such pollution will also depend on the speed of release of the cargo – gradual expiration within a few weeks / months, or a single release after breaking the integrity of the ship’s hull …
In the event that the damaged ship and its cargo are not removed from the area soon, it is very likely that in the area of Yayla in the immediate vicinity of the ship there is a serious risk of damage and destruction of bottom coastal ecosystems, invertebrate and fish populations. In a wider area around the accident area, deterioration of seawater quality can be expected as a result of stimulating the development of phytoplankton (“blooms”).
This zone would be formed in the direction of the main currents in the region, which vary according to meteorological conditions during the respective periods of the year – in the direction of Cape Kaliakra and the northern part of Varna Bay or in the direction of Cape Shabla.
Impacts on biodiversity and ecological status in the area of Yailata and Cape Kaliakra
they will be
long lasting
and irreversible
and, unfortunately, well described and studied in other parts of the Black Sea in the past.
The only way to avoid this development is to unload the cargo of the ship stranded on the shore or to retrieve it from the area and transport it to a port before the breach of the ship’s hull could cause the catastrophic release of all its cargo into the sea. ” writes Dr. Berov.
Mihail Zaimov: We must have a state resource for marine rescue, as 30 years ago
Bulgaria must maintain its own capabilities and resources for marine rescue, as it did 30 years ago, because we are a maritime state and we have a responsibility for 40,000 square kilometers of sea area, said Mikhail Zaimov.
There used to be a multifunctional rescue ship “Perun” as well as the oil tanker “Rusalka”, today we have only one Emergency Rescue Squad at the “Maritime Administration”, but this is pro forma, the resource is zero and the responsibility for this lies with politicians for the last 30 years. more Zaimov.
“If such an incident had happened somewhere in Greece, the ship would have been in a large port a long time ago. There are protocols for action in such cases – large inflatable pillows are placed around the body, the openings are closed, powerful pumps are started, an excavator is loaded on it and unloaded on a barge. All this was before in Bulgaria and it worked.
Instead of calling a foreign resource to be paid for, we had to maintain such a resource in our country, because there are such incidents every year. At the moment, however, our capabilities as a state are reduced to zero. We must have at least a deputy minister who is a seafarer and has an idea of maritime rescue, who must defend to his line minister and the minister of finance the allocation of funds for a maritime rescue squad, oil spill facilities, thermal chambers, helicopters etc. “, commented Zaimov.
According to him, there is a great danger that the ship stranded near Yaylataya will crash, capsize or break in two. Then everything he carries will flow into the sea and accordingly all living things there will die. The scale of the damage could be huge, warned Mikhail Zaimov.
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