Finland Steps Up Oil Spill Monitoring After Tanker Incident

Finland has launched an investigation into the Koala oil tanker incident that occurred on February 9th at Ust-Luga port. The authorities deployed aircraft to monitor the Gulf of Finland, but as of now, there are no signs of an oil spill, reports NewsBox.

Finnish authorities announced the start of an investigation into the incident involving the Koala tanker, which took place on February 9th at the Russian port of Ust-Luga in the Leningrad region. According to Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, the country is closely monitoring the situation and has already increased measures to prevent potential oil spills.

Aircraft from border surveillance were dispatched to the Gulf of Finland area, but by Sunday evening, no signs of oil contamination in the water were detected.

The Koala tanker, carrying over 100,000 tons of fuel oil, is part of Russia's so-called 'shadow fleet'—a group of ships with unclear ownership structures. The media associates it with Latvian businessman Alexey Khalaev, known for purchasing Russian oil.

The vessel arrived at Ust-Luga from Singapore on February 6th. According to Rosmorrechflot, an explosion occurred in the engine room, but no official reports of oil product spills have been recorded, and there are no reported injuries.