Salvage sector sees environment protection role after Ukraine conflict abates

ONE casualty of war is normally the environment and sadly, it looks like salvors will have environmental protection work to do in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov once hostilities eventually cease. Very little information is available about how many ships have been damaged or wrecked so far during the conflict but there certainly have been at least a few.

The war in Ukraine does not feature prominently in the latest edition of Salvage World, the International Salvage Union's (ISU) latest newsletter. However, demonstrating no sector is immune from its knock-on effects, the ISU said: "ISU is a non-political organisation but, like many other trade associations in the shipping industry and wider, the executive committee has considered the membership of the association of its Russian member, MRS/MORSPAS, in the context of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and has suspended that membership."

Explaining its decision, the ISU said it had "taken account of the relationship of MRS to the Russian state; the widespread international condemnation of Russia's actions and the imposition of strong sanctions against certain Russian interests by, among others, the EU, the United States, Japan and the UK".