White Sea–Baltic Canal had plans to carry 800,000 tonnes of fuel oil over the canal during 2003, and to increase the volume to in 2004. The fuel was transferred from Volgotanker river tankers to Latvian seagoing tankers at a floating transfer station near the Osinki Island in the Onega Bay of the White Sea, north-east of the port of Onega. Transfer operations began on 24 June 2003. But on 1 September 2003 a low-speed collision between Volgotanker's "Nefterudovoz-57M" and the Latvian "Zoja-I" during a transfer caused a crack in the "Nefterudovoz's" hull, with a subsequent oil spillage. Various estimates of the extent of
Lake Onega Lake Onega Lake Onega (also known as Onego, ; or ; or ; or ) is a lake in the north-west European part of Russia, located on the territory of Republic of Karelia, Leningrad Oblast and Vologda Oblast. It belongs to the basin of the Baltic Sea, Atlantic Ocean, and is the second largest lake in Europe after Lake Ladoga. The lake is fed by about 50 rivers and is drained by the Svir River. There are about 1,650 islands on the lake. They include Kizhi, which hosts a historical complex of 89 orthodox wooden churches and other wooden constructions