Silicon Bites #70 - 4 Oil Tankers in 4 Days - Predictions of Environmental Disaster Proving Correct.

Edition No70 | 27-12-2024 - It’s a tragedy that politicians can’t seem to act on warnings alone, and the public can’t be moved to outrage, passion or action by an impending disaster or crime. Last week we had a case in point where it’s the images of thick, viscous oil washing up on the Black Sea coast. ---------- SILICON CURTAIN FILM FUNDRAISER A project to make a documentary film in Ukraine, to raise awareness of Ukraine's struggle and in supporting a team running aid convoys to Ukraine's frontline towns. https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras ---------- Stricken oil tankers show the risks of Russia's ageing 'shadow fleet', which it uses to bypass sanctions. Although the vessel that split apart was covered by Russian insurer VSK, it’s doubtful whether the costs of the cleanup operations will be covered. The full scale of the various incidents, as well as their long-term impact on the environment are so far unknown. One crew member was killed after the Volgoneft 212 split in half, with 12 rescued, while authorities said all 14 crew aboard the Volgoneft 239, which ran aground 80 metres from the shore near the port of Taman, were also rescued. Russian authorities sought to limit the damage from oil spilled into the Kerch Strait by two ageing tankers that were damaged during a heavy weekend storm – though part of the campaign was informational, seeking to deny the seriousness, and not only focused on the physical clean-up. The ships are on average more than 50-year-old, and were carrying some 9,200 metric tons (62,000 barrels) of oil products in total. Volgoneft 212 was constructed in 1969 and Volgoneft 239 in 1973. The spill is likely to become one of the largest environmental disasters to affect the region in recent years. The Kerch Strait, which separates mainland Russia from the Moscow-annexed Crimea region, is a key route for exports of its grain and fuel products. ---------- NEWS SOURCES: https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-polytics/3939182-estonian-pm-names-two-options-facing-russian-shadow-fleet-vessels-caught-without-insurance.html https://www.ft.com/content/8a485a6b-477e-4087-83f4-eca357082d71 https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-tankers-damaged-kerch-strait-were-carrying-62000-barrels-oil-products-2024-12-16/ https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/16/ukraine-calls-for-sanctions-against-russia-oil-tankers-over-black-sea-spill https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/12/16/russian-tankers-caught-in-storm-may-have-leaked-3k-tons-of-oil-products-state-media-a87359 https://kyivindependent.com/sinking-of-two-russian-oil-tankers-may-cause-significant-environmental-impacts-greenpeace-warns/ https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-economy-shadow-dark-oil-tankers-sanctions-navy-warships-escort-2024-12 ---------- SUPPORT THE CHANNEL: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain https://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain ---------- TRUSTED CHARITIES ON THE GROUND: Save Ukraine https://www.saveukraineua.org/ Superhumans - Hospital for war traumas https://superhumans.com/en/ UNBROKEN - Treatment. Prosthesis. Rehabilitation for Ukrainians in Ukraine https://unbroken.org.ua/ Come Back Alive https://savelife.in.ua/en/ Chefs For Ukraine - World Central Kitchen https://wck.org/relief/activation-chefs-for-ukraine UNITED24 - An initiative of President Zelenskyy https://u24.gov.ua/ Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundation https://prytulafoundation.org NGO “Herojam Slava” https://heroiamslava.org/ kharpp - Reconstruction project supporting communities in Kharkiv and Przemysl https://kharpp.com/ NOR DOG Animal Rescue https://www.nor-dog.org/home/ ----------