The Sakhalin regional government has been absolutely right in demanding that the operators of the Sakhalin-1 and Sakhalin-2 international project should establish a joint oil-spill elimination system provided with adequate resources, the governor is reported as saying.
At the same time, a company involved with the cleanup of oil leaks has assured that all the spills left over by the Christopher Columbus will be removed from the Kholmsk shoreline by the middle of next week. The local beaches draw quite a few south Sakhalin residents.
Talking about the causes of the accident, the Belgian ship's owner has said that the captain, whom he has described as a seasoned seaman, was trying to leave the Kholmsk port on September 8 when it was hit by a Songda typhoon and ran aground, as a result.
Cleanup operations didn't begin until September 10.
