Russian drones now control oil spills on the Northern Sea Route

The Federal State Budgetary Institution "Morspassluzhba" is preparing to eliminate oil spills on the Northern Sea Route.

The cargo traffic in this direction is growing: by 2030 it will reach 150 million tons, by 2035 - up to 220 million tons. A significant part of the transportation on the Northern Sea Route will be the supply of natural gas, gas condensate, oil and its processed products, which creates additional risks of environmental disasters. Russia will now monitor the environmental situation in the Arctic with the help of drones.

The first group of specialists from "Morspassluzhba" — two rescue operators of UAVs with three drones — started their duty on the nuclear icebreaker "Ural". The nuclear icebreaker also took on board five tons of domestic dispersant "Dimex", developed by LLC "SRI Transneft", in case of elimination of oil spills in the waters of the Northern Sea Route.

Dispersant is a mixture of surfactants and a solvent (or solvents) that repeatedly accelerates the natural dispersion of oil when it spills in the water area and in the ice, and in open wave conditions. Dispersant helps the formation of small droplets of oil, which cannot re-emerge to the surface of the water and form a film. It also prevents oil from sticking to the coastline, fur and skin of animals, feathers of birds and other surfaces. In an emergency, drone operators of "Morspassluzhba" will be able to quickly detect the accident site, deliver to it and spray this mixture.

It is planned that each icebreaker of FSUE "Atomflot" in the waters of the Northern Sea Route will receive five tons of dispersant and two rescue operators of "Morspassluzhba" with drones capable of spraying dispersant.

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