A sailor from the Volgoneft-212 tanker told about the moment of the shipwreck
The beginning of the disaster in the Kerch Strait began because of strong waves. This was told to "Izvestia" on December 15 by Alexander Marchenko, a sailor from the ship "Volgoneft-212".
"Got on watch at eight o'clock, made the rounds. There were no remarks, but the wave was strong. At about 08:30 the alarm was announced, we began to break. The whole crew gathered in the deckhouse and put on life jackets," Marchenko said.
He said that the rescue ship "Mercury" several times tried to approach the stern, where the crew was. However, according to the sailor, the attempts were in vain. Later, a helicopter arrived and evacuated them, Marchenko specified.
"Soaked, dirty. <...> On the whole, thank God, they are alive," the sailor emphasized.
That the tanker "Volgoneft-212" is in distress due to bad weather in the Kerch Strait, became known earlier in the day. In that area there were strong squally winds and sea waves up to 7 points. Some time later it became known about the damage of the second tanker. In the main Directorate (GU) of the Ministry of Emergency Situations in the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol reported that in the elimination of the incident involved more than 50 people and 11 units of equipment.
Later it became known that the vessel "Volgoneft-212" ran aground, a few hours later the same happened with "Volgoneft-239" near the port of Taman, Krasnodar region. During the rescue operation 13 people were evacuated from the first vessel, one of them died. The crew of the second tanker consisting of 14 people is on the vessel, its evacuation is being prepared. Two criminal cases were opened over the incident, one of which was reclassified as more serious.
Assistant Minister of Health of Russia Alexei Kuznetsov said that the wreck of the tanker "Volgoneft-212" in the Kerch Strait injured 11 people, two of them in serious condition. The victims were recorded to have hypothermia.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
