The Moldovan-flagged oil tanker Delfi has finally left Odesa’s Delfin beach after running aground and falling onto its side in November 2019.
It was raised up and towed away, Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Vladyslav Kryklii announced on Sep. 10.
Now Delfi is in the Chornomorsk seaport, nearly 30 kilometers away from Delfin.
The notorious tanker was evacuated by Ukrainian company Craneship, financed by the Odesa-based private enterprise Brooklyn-Kyiv, which owns warehouses and trades grains, tobacco and animal feed.
The two companies volunteered to lift and tow the ship after its legal owner, British company Mister Drake PC, first refused and then failed to evacuate it.
Earlier, in July, Ukraine’s Sea Ports Authority announced a Hr 25 million ($898,000) tender for Delfi’s evacuation because it could not delay the operation any longer: The sunken tanker had spilled oil products into the water, threatening the health of the local population and the environment.
The tanker’s owner was supposed to cover the cost of the tender. But then it was canceled when Brooklyn-Kyiv volunteered and took over the operation.
Delfi drifted aground on the coast in the Odesa port area on Nov. 21, 2019. Its crew of three decided to stay on board, but was later evacuated.
After that, local environmental activists sounded the alarm: On the first day after the tanker ran aground, the concentration of oil in the water grew by 150 times and leakages of oil products continued every time the vessel was lifted and stabilized.
Although Delfi became a popular tourist attraction, people couldn’t swim in the nearby water because it smelled bad and was toxic.
It is not yet clear whether anyone will face consequences for delaying the evacuation of the tanker and causing damage to the environment.
