Crimea says no shore pollution after tanker crash

No pollution has been detected after the spill of oil products from two tankers on the Black Sea coast. This was announced by the head of the Republic of Crimea Sergey Aksyonov on Monday, December 16.

"To date, pollution of the coastline has not been detected, preparatory work is underway to eliminate the consequences of the leak. The situation is being monitored to assess the environmental consequences," he wrote in his Telegram-channel after a meeting on the elimination of the consequences of the emergency incident.

It is specified that the situation with the oil product spill is under the control of federal ministries and services, which are taking measures to reduce the damage.

A special roadmap will be developed by the Russian government to coordinate subsequent actions.

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

The powerful elements snapped both vessels in half

Tankers "Volgoneft-212" and "Volgoneft-239" crashed in the Kerch Strait on December 15. There were strong squally winds and sea excitement up to 7 points in that area. In the Main Directorate (GU) of the Ministry of Emergency Situations in the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol reported that more than 50 people and 11 units of equipment are involved in the elimination of the accident.

Later in the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia specified that the "Volgoneft-212" ran aground. 13 people were evacuated from the vessel. It was reported that two of them remain in a state of moderate severity, another person died. Two criminal cases were opened over the incident, one of which was reclassified to a more serious composition.

"Volgoneft-239" ran aground near the port of Taman in the Krasnodar region. All 14 crew members were evacuated from it. According to the agency, the vessel is 80 meters from the shore. Prior to this it was reported that the tanker after the damage was laid adrift.

In addition, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on the instructions of Russian President Vladimir Putin created a working group to coordinate the work to eliminate the consequences of the emergency with tankers in the Kerch Strait.

In turn, Russian Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Alexander Kozlov said that it's too early to say how much oil products got into the sea after the crash of the Russian tankers. According to him, the Maritime Rescue Service is preparing divers who will examine the remains of the vessels and give their conclusion. He said that patrolling not only of the water surface but also of the coastline would be organized in order to react immediately in case of oil stains.