Moldova will not make up for environmental damages inflicted by «Nikolay Bauman» ship

Moldova will not pay US$1 million in environmental damages inflicted by the «Nikolay Bauman» ship, under Moldovan flag, which sunk on March 6 in Danube, the Head of the Naval Transport Department of the Ministry of Transport and Road Infrastructure, Igor Zaharia, told Infotag.     

He reasoned this by the fact that the legal proceedings were initiated against the owner of the ship – a Ukrainian company.     

According to preliminary calculations of the State Environmental Inspectorate of the Black Sea north-west region, the damage inflicted by those 3 tons of fuel spilled from the vessel was assessed at US$189 million.    

As already reported by Infotag, «Nikolai Bauman» a ship sailing under the Moldavian flag, sunk on March 6, near the Starostambulsky delta of Danube, in Kiliysky district of Odessa region. As reported, the area of an oil spill in the Black Sea near Odessa region was about 5.3 square kilometers. The local prosecutor’s office opened a criminal case under Part 1, Article 243 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (pollution of sea) and Part 1, Article 242 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (violation of rules of water preservation). The ship was sailing from Turkey to Kherson carrying gypsum. Water came over the bow of the ship and started to flood the ship’s holds. The captain sent a distress signal and tried to beach the vessel, but failed. The dry cargo ship then sank. The ship was 40 years old. It belongs to Danube Shipping Ltd.

Adapted from Infotag