Sea Bathing Prohibited in the Crimea

The Ukrainian Health Ministry prohibited bathing on the beaches of the South Coast of the Crimea situated near the sewerage discharge points in localities from Yalta to Sudak. The sewerage cannot be treated due to an emergency power interruption.

Health Minister Nikolai Polishtchuk signed the appropriate regulation. The Health Ministry recommended refraining from bathing in the sea for a few days.

The massive power interruption was caused by the breakdowns that occurred last Thursday simultaneously at two main power transmission lines with capacity of 110 kV each – Simferopol-Yalta and Perevalnoye-Alushta.

The primary cause of the breakdowns is the failure in the power supply that occurred at the 220 kV power transmission line owned by the Crimean Power Supply Systems. The standby transmission line was under scheduled repair. Preliminary data indicate that the failure was caused by the burning of the loop on one of the high-voltage masts. According to rescuers and power engineers, this might have resulted in the burning of other lines and the activation of the emergency protection system.

Yalta has been partially supplied with electricity from a loop line from Simferopol. The extent of the damage caused by the failure will be estimated after the correction of the failure.