The tanker "Kairos" has been near Burgas for months. According to "Greenpeace", it is the source of dozens of oil stains in the Black Sea. No traces of pollution during the latest inspections, say the "Maritime Administration". What is known:
For more than eight months now, the tanker "Kairos" is located near the Burgas Bay, despite orders to remove it from Bulgarian territorial waters.
The ship, which is part of the Russian shadow fleet and is under EU and UK sanctions for transporting Russian oil, has come into the focus of institutions and the non-governmental sector, including due to suspicions that it is a source of oil pollution.
This week, "Greenpeace" activists wrote the message "No Gas and Oil" on it and warned that, according to an analysis of satellite footage, damage to the tanker led to dozens of oil slicks in the waters of the Black Sea between April and July.
DV sent questions to the "Maritime Administration", which is the competent institution in this case. They replied that during an inspection in December, "minor traces of leakage of residual oil products" were found, but inspections in August did not find "no traces of pollution".
What is known about the case?
At the end of November 2025, the tanker was hit by naval drones off the Turkish coast. Then a Turkish tugboat belonging to a private company abandoned it in Bulgarian territorial waters near Ahtopol. It was evacuated and moved to the Burgas Bay, where the ship dropped anchor. And so it has remained there for more than eight months.
From the executive agency "Maritime Administration" say that during one of the first inspections of the ship, traces of a leak of residual oil products were found, the amount of which was "minimal".
The leak was caused by "loosening of a sealant placed in place of a compromised port side of the hull as a result of a drone strike on the vessel in Turkish waters". An act and a prescription have been issued to eliminate the malfunction. During inspections carried out in August, no new pollution was found, and the prescription was fulfilled, say the "Maritime Administration".
However, "Greenpeace" is examining satellite images, which, according to the organization, raise doubts that "Kairos" is chronically polluting the Black Sea with leaking oil products.
The analysis is based on images from the Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2 and PlanetScope satellite platforms. They claim that the earliest trace of pollution was registered in an image from April 26, 2026, and subsequent satellite data shows new spots on May 14, as well as on July 14, 15, 17, 19 and 21.
"Dozens of tankers from the Russian shadow fleet like the "Kairos" are sailing in the waters of the Black Sea. Old and dangerous vessels that carry polluting fuels, dump oil waste and eventually even remain abandoned near the coast, as if the sea were a garbage dump," says Meglena Antonova, director of "Greenpeace" - Bulgaria.
After the environmental organization's action, there was no change in the position of the institutions.
"Kairos" and fuel oil on the Southern Black Sea Coast: is there a connection?
In their position to the media, "Greenpeace" claims that the tanker "Kairos" is also the likely source of fuel oil pollution on the beaches on the Southern Black Sea Coast in June.
However, the "Maritime Administration" refutes this with the argument that "the surface film registered around "Kairos" could not have been the cause of pollution of the coastal and beach strip with tar balls". The main reason is not the tanker, but "old pollution with heavy oil products, located inland in the open sea, far from the coastline", say the "Maritime Administration".
They recall that similar pollution with fuel oil pellets was also registered on the Black Sea coast in Northern Bulgaria, which could not have been from the tanker "Kairos". It remains unclear when the tanker from the Russian shadow fleet will be taken out of Bulgarian territorial waters.
"According to official information provided by the shipowner, coordination procedures are currently underway with the competent Turkish state bodies and port authorities for its subsequent removal to a specialized Turkish port for recycling", say the "Maritime Administration" in their answers to the State Gazette.