Bilge Oil Pollution at a Port in Russia’s Far East

At Slavyanka Bay in Russia’s Far East, a foreign-flagged cargo ship docked at the port and illegally discharged untreated bilge oil wastewater. A large oil slick with a rainbow sheen rapidly spread across the water’s surface, completely covering the entire nearshore area of the bay, triggering a concentrated outbreak of multiple pollution hazards. The oil spill caused severe ecological damage, resulting in mass deaths of shellfish in the bay’s aquaculture farms and small coastal fish. A viscous layer of oil adhered to the hulls of fishing boats and the rocky shores, causing short-term, devastating destruction to the habitats of shallow-water benthic organisms.