Over 170 spills of dumped oil and marine fuel have been registered in the last year in the Bulgarian Black Sea waters. This is shown by an investigation by “Greenpeace“ – Bulgaria and SkyTruth, summarized in a new interactive map.
The total area of the detected spills is 819 sq. km – an area almost twice the size of the city of Sofia and larger than all the beaches on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast combined.
Most often, the spills are due to dumped bilge water contaminated with oil, marine fuel, chemicals and heavy metals. These are the waters that collect in the lowest part of ships, where the engine room is located. When ships discharge untreated bilge waste into the sea, the oil spills on the surface and forms stains. That is why from a bird's eye view they look like continuous lines, unlike oil spills, which are more concentrated. Although they are not as spectacular, they are just as harmful and polluting - they reduce water quality, disrupt the foundations of the food chain in the sea and lead to reduced reproduction or direct mortality in some fish and dolphins.
„Unfortunately, such oil spills are often underestimated and do not receive as much attention as large oil spills. This pollution is rarely reported as official statistics, and even less often leads to sanctions. We only talk about oil pollution when we see fuel oil dumped on Bulgarian beaches,“ commented Martin Tomov, coordinator of the “Live Black Sea“ campaign in “Greenpeace“ – Bulgaria. “The lack of control over the discharge of oil waste and bilge water is another example of neglect towards the protection of the Black Sea. We need stricter protection measures, more protected areas and reserves where marine organisms can develop undisturbed“, he added.
In August “Greenpeace“ – Bulgaria launched a petition demanding a ban on future oil and gas extraction projects in the Black Sea. The petition is in response to the planned inclusion of Bulgarian Energy Holding in a consortium for gas exploration. The construction of such infrastructure will be another blow to the marine ecosystem, which is already under serious pressure from bottom trawling, unregulated fishing, eutrophication, and military actions. The planned megaprojects pose a risk of pollution and will cause additional damage to the Black Sea flora and fauna.
The SkyTruth Cerulean system, which uses satellite data from the European Space Agency's Sentinel-1, was used to detect oil spills. The map shows oil spills from July 6, 2024 to June 26, 2025. It only shows spills that have been double-confirmed by Greenpeace and Skytruth specialists after checking with software. The data is only part of the overall picture, as satellite images capture the region only once every few days, and many of the spills remain hidden.