Oil products spill in Kerch Strait in tanker accident

When the tankers Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239 crashed in the Kerch Strait, there was a spill of oil products. This was reported in Rosmorrechflot on December 15.

"As a result of the accident there was a spill of oil products. A rescue operation was organized, two tugboats and two helicopters were sent to the tankers. Evacuation is underway," the agency said in a statement in its Telegram channel.

It said that the forces of the Russian Emergencies Ministry and Morspassluzhba are working to eliminate the spill, the operation is led by the operational headquarters, which was created in Rostov-on-Don on the basis of the Administration of Sea Ports (AMP) of the Sea of Azov.

Rosmorrechflot added that the Kerch crossing was suspended due to weather conditions.

The tanker Volgoneft-212 suffered a disaster in the Kerch Strait earlier in the day due to bad weather. The signal about it in the morning came to the Ministry of Emergency Situations in the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol. In the area where the ship is located, there are strong squally winds and sea excitement up to 7 points.

Later in the regional EMERCOM reported the damage to the second tanker - "Volgoneft-239". It added that more than 50 people and 11 units of equipment are involved in the elimination of the incident. The Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia specified that "Volgoneft-212" ran aground, and "Volgoneft-239" went adrift after the damage.

During the rescue operation 13 people were evacuated from the first vessel, one of them died. According to Izvestia's source, the crew of the second tanker left it and is waiting for help.

The prosecutor's office has started checking the crash of the two tankers. The Russian Investigative Committee's directorate for Crimea and Sevastopol has opened two criminal cases over the incident.