Ex-captain of Pivdenny sea port suspected of negligence due to accident of Delfi tanker

KYIV. Sept 2 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Odesa law enforcement officers reported suspicion of official negligence, which entailed grave consequences, to former captain of Pivdenny maritime merchandise port (formerly Yuzhny, Odesa region), who in November 2019 allowed the Delfi tanker to cross the state border of Ukraine in his area of responsibility without proper documents.

"The former captain of the port Pivdenny, from November 2 to November 22, 2019 neither took the necessary and legally prescribed measures, nor properly assessed the threat of an emergency in the form of a drift of an uncontrolled technically faulty ship Delfi. The tanker without proper documents and the number of crew, which was less than necessary, crossed the state border of Ukraine in its area of responsibility," a message published on the website of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine (PGO) on Thursday says.

It notes that after that, during a storm on November 22, 2019, a cargo tanker in the water area of the port Pivdenny broke its anchors and, drifting, ran aground near Odesa beach Dolphin.

"The amount of damage caused by the State Enterprise Administration of the Seaports of Ukraine for the period of rescue operations to localize and eliminate the accident, including the spill of oil products and pollutants from the ship Delfi, is more than UAH 7 million," the PGIO says.

As reported, the tanker Delfi, flying the flag of Moldova, suffered a disaster in the Odesa Gulf in November 2019 – the ship was unmoored. Its owner had to take measures to lift and remove the sunken tanker from the water area of Odesa seaport until March 31, 2020.

On April 1, 2020, the prosecutor general took control over the case, and on June 22, the prosecutor’s office of Odesa region began criminal proceedings on the fact of failure to take measures to eliminate the consequences of environmental pollution of sea water with oil products.

The State Enterprise Administration of the Seaports of Ukraine announced a tender for lifting the Delfi tanker that sank on Odesa beach with an initial amount of UAH 25 million, since on July 27 this process passed to the state after unsuccessful attempts at the expense of the ship owner, and the expert commission of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine finally recognized the situation as an emergency of local level.

In September 2020, the Delfi tanker, which sank near Odesa beach, was lifted and towed. The results of the analysis carried out after the transportation of the Delfi tanker from the water area of Odesa beach showed an excess of the content of oil products in the water. The total amount of losses due to sea pollution amounted to $16.300.