An oil slick trailing the Aframax Rio tanker, which caught fire off the coast of the southern Russian resort city of Sochi on Oct. 6, has expanded to 25 square kilometers, the environmental NGO Greenpeace announced after analyzing satellite images of the area taken Oct. 7 and 8.
According to the organization, at about noon Moscow time on Oct. 7, the vessel was located 13 kilometers from Lazarevskoye — about 50 kilometers northwest of the spot where the fire began. The fire on board had already been extinguished by then, but a trail of petroleum products covering about 8 square kilometers was visible on the sea surface.
A satellite image taken around noon the following day showed the tanker being towed northwest. Greenpeace said the vessel may be heading to the port of Novorossiysk. The oil slick visible in that image was larger, covering about 25 square kilometers.
According to Greenpeace:
“This situation is one of the consequences of Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine. Russia uses oil to finance the war. Now that oil poses a direct threat to people inside the country and to the environment across the Black Sea region.”
The Insider previously reported that the Aframax Rio sails under the Liberian flag, is owned by Marshall Islands-registered Rio Enterprises SA, and has called at Russian Black Sea ports. In May 2026, it spent three days at the port of Taman. The tanker is under Ukrainian sanctions and is believed to be part of Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet,” a network of ageing, poorly insured vessels that are used to move Russian oil in circumvention of international sanctions, allowing the Kremlin to continue earning revenue amid its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
