The Executive Environment Agency at the Ministry of Environment and Water has prepared Technical terms of Reference for analysis and assessment of the impact on the Black Sea in the Yaylata protected area as a result of the run-aground ship “Vera Su”. The aim is to determine the extent of the impact on the marine environment and its inhabitants and to identify possible environmental risks.

The Minister of Environment and Water Asen Lichev sent the assignment by letter to the Executive Director of the Maritime Administration Executive Agency to be commissioned to the Institute of Oceanology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, in accord with an order by the Prime Minister to fulfill the tasks of the situation coordination group in the Yaylata area.

The Technical Terms of Reference define the activities for analysis of the expected impact on marine organisms and the ecological status of sea waters, as well as for assessment of the possible damages to marine flora and fauna, marine habitats, and coastal marine waters.

The Institute of Oceanology is also tasked with drawing conclusions, based on the analyses and assessments, on whether and to what extent damage has been inflicted upon protected species and natural habitats and species of economic importance in the marine environment; whether and to what extent environmental harm and significant negative impact has occurred on the preservation of the “favorable conservation status” of the protected area, within the meaning of the Liability for Prevention and Elimination of Environmental Damage Act.

As a sign of good neighborliness and prevention of possible risk, Minister Asen Lichev also sent letters to the Ministers of Environment of Romania and the Republic of Turkey, providing information on the current situation with the “Vera Su” ship, which is stranded near Kamen Bryag.

The letters note that the MOEW monitoring teams have been on-site since the first day of the incident, whereby they regularly monitor sea waters, prescribe instructions to the competent authorities to prevent pollution of the marine environment, and also that the samples examined so far do not show any possibility for transboundary pollution.