Two tankers crashed in the Kerch Strait. What is known

Updated at 20:41 Moscow time.

On Sunday, December 15, Russian tankers Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239 crashed due to bad weather in the Kerch Strait. One of the sailors died. "Izvestia" tells what is known by this hour.

The crash of oil tankers in the Kerch Strait - what happened

The oil tanker "Volgoneft-212" crashed in the Kerch Strait in the afternoon of December 15. As reported in the Telegram-channel of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia, due to bad weather the vessel was damaged, the crew requested help. A total of 13 people were on board. The tanker was carrying oil products.

To help the sailors flew a helicopter Mi-8 with rescuers "Krym-Spass". The rescue tugboat "Mercury" of the Maritime Rescue Coordination Center also headed to the ship.

Later in the press service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations reported that another tanker with a cargo of oil products - "Volgoneft-239" - was damaged. There were 14 people on board. Units of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia in the Republic of Crimea were put on standby. In total, more than 50 people and 11 units of equipment are involved in the elimination of the incident.

As specified in the press service of the Main Department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia in the Republic of Crimea, the damaged tanker "Volgoneft-212" ran aground. The vessel managed to evacuate 13 people. One of the sailors died.

A total of 11 people were injured as a result of the wreck, they were taken to the city hospital of Anapa. According to Alexei Kuznetsov, Assistant Minister of Health of Russia, two sailors are in serious condition, nine - in a state of moderate severity.

The tanker Volgoneft-239, which also received serious damage, went adrift. Later the vessel ran aground near the port of Taman, Krasnodar Territory, it is 80 meters from the shore. All 14 crew members remain on board and are waiting for evacuation, communication is maintained with them.

In the evening of December 15, the Emergencies Ministry temporarily suspended the evacuation operation due to worsening weather.

Tanker crash in the Kerch Strait - reaction of law enforcers

The Southern Transport Prosecutor's Office has launched an inspection into the fact of the tanker crash in the Kerch Strait. Two criminal cases were initiated on the fact of violation of the rules of safety of movement and operation of maritime transport. Law enforcers will assess the actions of the crew in difficult weather conditions, as well as the technical condition of the vessels and maintenance of watercraft.

Breaking storm: two tankers in distress off the coast of Kerch

The powerful elements snapped both vessels in half

Later, because of the death of a crew member of the tanker Volgoneft-212, the criminal case of violation of the rules of operation of a sea vessel was reclassified to a more serious one - part 2 of article 263 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Violation of the rules and operation of maritime transport, causing the death of a person by negligence").

In addition, as a result of the tanker crash there was a spill of oil products. The Russian Emergencies Ministry and Morspassluzhba are working to eliminate the consequences.

Tanker crash in the Kerch Strait - reaction of officials

Russian President Vladimir Putin gave instructions on the organization of rescue operations after the crash of the Volgoneft tanker in the Kerch Strait. The head of state heard reports from Emergencies Ministry head Alexander Kurenkov, Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Savelyev and Natural Resources and Environment Minister Alexander Kozlov. By his order, a working group was created, which will be responsible for rescuing people and eliminating the consequences of the oil spill.

The working group will be headed by Deputy Prime Minister Savelyev. The commission will also include Transport Minister Roman Starovoit, head of Rosmorrechflot Andrey Tarasenko, head of Rostransnadzor Viktor Basargin, as well as representatives of the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the administration of the Krasnodar region.

Video from the site of the tanker crash in the Kerch Strait

In the Network also appeared in the video of the tanker "Volgoneft-212". The footage provided by eyewitnesses shows that the vessel is split into pieces, the operator is sure that it will go to the bottom. In the video from the tanker itself, the broken off bow of the vessel can be seen sticking out of the water.

According to Izvestia's source, the Volgoneft-212 crashed 7 kilometers from the shore. The vessel was carrying about 5 tons of fuel oil.

Eyewitnesses told details of the tanker wreck in the Kerch Strait

A sailor, who was in the roadstead near the wrecked tankers, told "Izvestia" about the course of the rescue operation. According to him, the vessels began to "break in half" in the morning because of strong storm waves.

"The tank separated and the stern too, the captain made a decision to move away from the tank so that the waves would not smash the tank harder against the stern," the interlocutor shared.

The man specified that due to strong waves 2-3 meters high rescuers could not get close to the sinking tanker. At the same time, there were elderly people on board, who could not quickly jump to the rescue tugboat. As a result, the captain of the vessel decided to use the main engine to get closer to the shore and run aground. Part of the crew managed to be lifted aboard the EMERCOM helicopter, while the rest jumped into the water, where they were picked up by the tugboat.