Protecting the Black Sea, stopping fossil fuel projects and working for energy independence are the messages that activists of the environmental organization "Greenpeace" sent with their action on Tuesday at the tanker "Kairos", on which they wrote "No gas and oil" in white paint. How one decides to participate in such an action and what other messages the volunteers have for all of us - you can hear and read in the interview with Maria Petrova, who spoke with four of the participants in the event in the waters near Burgas, BNR reports.
"Greenpeace" carried out the action after there were signals in recent weeks from local organizations such as "Local Council – Nessebar" about oil pollution from the tanker "Kairos". "Greenpeace" also announced that satellite images show a leak from the ship, which has been going on for months, and last week an on-site inspection by the environmental organization's icebreaker "Arctic Sunrise" also showed a leak of oil. The information from the Bulgarian authorities, including after on-site inspections, was initially that there was no leak. This week, in official correspondence with "Greenpeace" - Bulgaria, it was stated that there was a leak, but it was determined to be insignificant.
According to environmental activists, however, the risk to life in the Black Sea, as well as to people, remains real, which led to the action on Tuesday.
"The experience was actually quite exciting. We also had a live stream the whole time. Fortunately, the pollution coming from the ship "Kairos" was stopped a few days before we went there, actually largely thanks to the signals from local organizations and perhaps because of the great media attention. The institutions finally stepped up and sent us documents on exactly how they fixed the leak from the "Kairos", which they had initially said did not exist.
It turned out that there was a hole in the back of the ship, from which an oil product was pouring out, which had indeed been polluting our waters for months. When we were there on site, we were able to see that there were actually traces of this oil product on the side of the ship, again this rainbow-colored coloration, which was slightly above the water level.
It was actually quite motivating. I think that for everyone who joined these protest actions it was extremely important to say that fossil fuels have no place in the Black Sea, that we are fighting for a Black Sea without oil and gas, a living Black Sea, a sea that we all want to protect and keep clean", explained Martin Tomov, who is responsible for the campaign "Living Black Sea without Oil and Gas".
The action had participants not only from Bulgaria, but also from Ukraine, Spain, the USA and the Philippines.
Anthropologist Nedelya Syarova told about her reasons for deciding to participate. "I decided to join the action because for me the protection of the Black Sea is very important and I am very against the extraction of oil and gas in our sea. The idea of such projects really scares me, especially when we know how these large infrastructures are maintained or rather how they are not maintained. I definitely think
that it is good to protest before something like this happens, not after", said Nedelya Syarova.
The Spaniard also participated in the action, Ana Torres, and explained what her motivation was. "I have previous experience in the open sea, but not exactly on this ship, so the idea of carrying out this action and coming here was very exciting. I had never been to Bulgaria and I was very excited to learn more about the Black Sea, about the movement and the problems here. It was very interesting", shared Ana Torres.
For her, the action and the message of giving up fossil fuels to stop global warming come at a difficult time for Spain. More than 150,000 hectares have already been affected by forest fires in Ana Torres's homeland, with experts saying the heatwave in Europe is making the situation worse with outbreaks occurring and spreading.
"The fires are getting worse every year. It's hard to ignore them or to say that they've always been like this because it's not true and we all know it. It's really sad. I hope that the brutality of what we're seeing will lead to change and people's reactions. I think this is happening in many places in Spain. People are going through great hardship. Problems are coming to light that could have easily been ignored in the past, but that's no longer possible," said Spaniard Ana Torres.
The action also has special meaning for Polina Kolodyazhna, who is in charge of campaigns at the Greenpeace office in Ukraine. The reason is that the "Kairos" is part of the Russian shadow fleet - hundreds of vessels through which Russia tries to evade sanctions on Russian oil from the G-7 and the European Union, imposed so that Moscow cannot use the profits to finance the invasion of Ukraine. The ships use a complex management and ownership structure, often change their names and transfer oil to the open sea, despite the environmental danger, to avoid international restrictions. Specifically, the tanker "Kairos" has been anchored near Burgas since November last year, after being hit by a Ukrainian drone and then towed to Bulgarian territorial waters by a Turkish tugboat. Now the tanker is also marked with the inscription "No Gas and Oil", written by "Greenpeace".
"This definitely means a lot to me, to my colleagues and to the whole country. Now we really need strong support. We know that the Russian shadow fleet fuels the war in Ukraine. Therefore, any action against the shadow fleet and the use of fossil fuels leads to support for Ukraine. I speak not only as a representative of "Greenpeace", but also as a Ukrainian. Moreover, the shadow fleet leads not only to the war in Ukraine, but also poses a huge environmental risk to the Black Sea," emphasized Polina Kolodyazhna.
She also told how, together with her colleagues, she supports the transition to green energy in Ukraine against the backdrop of the war there.
"This is something that is already happening in Ukraine. As an organization, we support municipalities, we bring equipment for producing solar energy to hospitals. We are promoting renewable energy sources and requests from municipalities are increasing. People understand that renewable energy sources can support Ukraine.
Last winter we really suffered because the Russians targeted the energy systems while it was minus 25 degrees in Ukraine. Before the next winter we see that even multi-family houses, which do not have much space or a large roof, are installing heat pumps for heating and solar panels on the roof. They understood that fossil fuels lead to vulnerability. Renewable energy sources can help countries achieve energy independence," Polina Kolodyazhna is categorical.