An investigation into the causes of the tanker crash in the Kerch Strait has been completed

Russian Transport Minister Roman Starovoit announced at a meeting of the Board of Directors on April 4 that the investigation into the causes of the tanker crash in the Kerch Strait had been completed.

"The main causes of accidents, according to the commission's conclusion, are non—compliance by ship captains and shipowners with restrictions on the season of navigation of vessels in the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait," he is quoted as saying in the Telegram channel of the government of the Russian Federation.

Starovoit also noted that the ships' crews were not staffed with qualified specialists in accordance with the requirements of the Russian Ministry of Transport. The investigation materials will be submitted to the Investigative Committee.

The head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation, Alexander Kurenkov, added that monitoring of the situation in emergency zones continues. He stressed that divers regularly inspect the sunken fragments of tankers.

In addition, following the results of the Rostransnadzor investigation, measures were proposed to prevent such incidents, including monitoring compliance by courts with seasonal and district restrictions.

In turn, the Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources Management estimated the environmental damage from the tanker wreck in the Black Sea at 84.9 billion rubles. Losses from the vessel Volgoneft-212 amounted to 49.5 billion rubles, and from Volgoneft-239 — 35.5 billion rubles. The head of Rosprirodnadzor, Svetlana Radionova, said that companies have been given a month to voluntarily compensate for damages, after which lawsuits will be sent to court.

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Tankers Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239 crashed in the Kerch Strait on December 15, 2024 due to bad weather. The incident caused a spill of petroleum products. 27 people were evacuated from both ships, one person died. On behalf of Russian President Vladimir Putin, a working group was set up to coordinate work to eliminate the consequences of the emergency.