Signals from residents of Nessebar about a potential danger in the Burgas Bay in recent weeks have caused hypotheses and doubts.
This was warned by BNT.
According to the signals, an operation is being carried out at sea to transfer oil products from one ship to another, and at a relatively close distance from the shore.
People in the area have also felt an unpleasant smell. The questions today were two: Why are the tankers not in the oil port and is there a violation of sanctions against Russia.
For almost a month, the "Nessebar Public Council" Association receives reports from citizens about sharp, suffocating odors of petroleum products.
"We didn't know what the cause was until a fisherman finally sent us a video in which we saw two tankers that had contacted each other at sea. And he said: The smell is terrible, you can't breathe", said Krastyo Peev, Association "Public Council Nessebar".
After numerous signals of a suffocating smell from last month, the oil transfer is taking place using the Ship to Ship method 35 km from Burgas.
"In fact, during these operations, lithium organic compounds are released, it emits an extremely bad and dangerous smell and with the sea winds, which are daily from the sea to the land, the coasts are systematically gassed during the day and at night", added Krastyo Peev, Association "Public Council Nessebar".
In an official position, the Agency "Customs" states that the transshipment operations are permitted and are carried out under strict control by all responsible services – including the "Border Police".
The control includes checks of documents, physical measurements and samples of crude oil, which are sent for analysis to customs laboratories. So far, no transshipment of Russian oil has been established.
"Customs authorities are in their place. They have the opportunity to carry out the relevant checks within their competence," commented Finance Minister Temenuzhka Petkova.
The "Maritime Administration" in Burgas stated that the ship "Tosca", which is currently in the Burgas Bay, comes from Novorossiysk, where there are two terminals - Russian and Kazakh.
The tanker is loaded with Kazakh oil, and the operation to unload it in our country is controlled and an order has been issued. Currently, it is being carried out 18 km into the sea near Nessebar.
According to our information, due to the ban on the import of Russian crude oil, deliveries are now coming in much larger tankers, which cannot enter the port of "Rosenets" due to the shallows.
Therefore, unloading takes place in the sea, under the control of the "Maritime Administration". When tankers cannot be unloaded immediately, the oil heats up and gases have to be released. This is also the likely reason for the pungent smell that people often report.
"I first noticed it a few days ago when I was at work. Then I called and filed a report, but I've felt it before in the New Town, added Mihaela Borisova, manager of a hotel in Nessebar.
"I've felt it, there's such a smell, it's really been like that for the last few days, more like five", commented Desislava, a resident of Nessebar.
The environmental inspection in Burgas specifies:
"Not last night, but the night before, we had about 15 reports in the early morning hours about the emission of typical odors from these operations. We don't have air pollution, we only smell oil products," said Pavel Marinov, director of the Regional Inspectorate for Environment, Water and Water - Burgas.
According to residents of nearby villages, the devices of the Regional Inspectorate for Environment, Water and Water cannot measure lithium organic compounds, which are dangerous.