“Another ship is going down. Holy shit!” said a sailor from a nearby boat who was filming the incident in the Black Sea's Kirch strait.
Online footage showed a Russian oil tanker sinking in the Black Sea on Sunday, December 15, 2024.
(Photo: YouTube/Screengrab)
Common Dreams Staff
Dec 15, 2024
A pair of Russian oil vessels on Sunday sunk in the Black Sea, according to reports, causing what Russian officials termed an "oil spill emergency" and touching off fears of an ecological disaster.
"Today two tankers, Volgoneft 212 and Volgoneft 239, were damaged due to a storm in the waters of the Black Sea," said the Federal Agency for Sea and Inland Water Transport in a statement. "There are 15 people on board of one ship and 14 people on the other. The damage caused an oil spill emergency."
It was subsequently reported that one of the vessels, and later the second, had sunk in the violent seas of the Kirch strait, which connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov. One person was reportedly killed, according to Russian officials, and an estimated 4,300 tonnes of oil product was on each vessel, though the amount spilled was not immediately known.
Footage taken by nearby ships captured portions of the disaster as it unfolded:
Sinking tankers
“Another ship is going down. Holy shit!” said a sailor from a nearby boat as the filming took place.
Paul Johnston, head of Greenpeace Research Laboratories at the University of Exeter in the U.K., warned of possible grave consequences from the maritime disaster.
"Any oil or petrochemical spill in these waters has the potential to be serious," Johnston said. "It is likely to be driven by prevailing wind and currents (moving now to the North-East) and in the current weather conditions is likely to be extremely difficult to contain. If it is driven ashore, then it will cause fouling of the shoreline which will be extremely difficult to clean up."
Russian outlets reported the oil product on board at least one of the vessels was mazut, a viscous and heavy fuel oil primarily used as a fuel oil in power plants, for shipping, or other industries.
"Any environmental impact will depend on the type of oil spilled," added Johnston. "Heavy residual fuel oils will tend to cause more visible damage than refined fractions and marine gas oil which will tend to disperse and break up quite rapidly."
Russia mounted a rescue effort Sunday after two oil tankers were wrecked in rough seas off Moscow-annexed Crimea and one broke apart, killing at least one sailor and causing an oil spill. Two criminal cases have been opened by Russian investigators.
Issued on: 15/12/2024 -
By: NEWS WIRES
A Russian oil tanker carrying thousands of tonnes of oil products split apart during a heavy storm on Sunday, spilling oil into the Kerch Strait, while another tanker was also in distress after sustaining damage, Russian officials said.
The vessels were in the Kerch Strait between mainland Russia and Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, when they issued distress signals.
Russian investigators opened two criminal cases to look into possible safety violations after at least one person was killed when the 136-metre Volgoneft 212 tanker, with 15 people on board, split in half with its bow sinking.Footage on state media showed waves washing over its deck.
The Russian-flagged vessel, built in 1969, was damaged and had run aground, officials said.
The second Russian-flagged ship, the 132-metre Volgoneft 239, was drifting after sustaining damage, the Emergencies Ministry said. It has a crew of 14 people and was built in 1973.
Key route for Russian grain, oil exports
The Kerch Strait is a key route for exports of Russian grain and is also used for exports of crude oil, fuel oil and liquefied natural gas.
In September, Ukraine accused Russia at an international court of flouting sea law by trying to keep the Kerch Strait under its sole control, something Moscow dismisses at groundless.
Emergency services said one person had died in the wreck of the first tanker, and 12 other people had been evacuated. Eleven of those were taken to hospital, with two in a serious condition, the TASS news agency quoted Alexei Kuznetsov, an aide to the health minister, as saying.
The Emergencies Ministry said it was still in contact with the other tanker and its crew after the ship ran aground 80 m from shore near the port of Taman at the south end of the Kerch Strait.
The ministry later wrote on Telegram that efforts to evacuate the crew of the second ship, Volganeft 239, were suspended because of bad weather.
The ministry said rescue teams were in contact with the ship, which had all facilities on board necessary to ensure the lives of the crew were not in danger.
Both tankers have a loading capacity of about 4,200 tonnes oil products.
Official statements did not provide details on the extent of the spill or why one of the tankers sustained such serious damage.
President Vladimir Putin ordered the government to set up a working group to deal with the rescue operation and mitigate the impact of the fuel spill, news agencies cited Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying, after Putin met with the ministers for emergencies and environment.
Russia said more than 50 people and equipment, including Mi-8 helicopters and rescue tugboats, had been deployed to the area.
Svetlana Radionova, head of Russia’s natural resources watchdog Rosprirodnadzor, said specialists were assessing the damage at the site of the incident.
(Reuters)
Russian Product Tanker Breaks U Kerch Strai
A Soviet-era product tanker has gone down in the Russian-controlled Kerch Strait, spilling fuel and leaving one seafarer dead.
According to Russian transport agency Rosmorrechflot, the aging river-sea tanker Volgoneft 212 sank in a wintertime storm Sunday about five nautical miles outside of the Kerch Strait. Waves in excess of 25 feet were forecast by Russia's meteorological agency, according to TASS. A video taken by a crewmember shows that the aging vessel broke up in the storm, and the bow could be seen floating away from the bridge deck.
Of the 15 people aboard the 212, at least one has been confirmed dead. Russia's Ministry of Emergency Situations reported that twelve people were rescued, implying that two seafarers remain missing. Two of the survivors were said to be in serious condition.
The tanker was carrying about 4,300 tonnes of mazut, a uniquely Russian and Central Asian residual fuel oil produced from low-quality feedstocks. The amount of pollution is not known, but a breakup would release a substantial quantity of petroleum at once from at least one cargo tank and several fuel tanks.
Russian authorities are investigating the incident as a possible criminal safety violation.
A second tanker from the same operator's fleet, the Volgoneft 239, ran aground just off Taman at about the same time as the sinking of the 212. The grounded ship was located close to shore, and though initial reports suggested it was sinking, it remained afloat. Conditions on scene were poor and the crew were determined to be in no danger, so SAR authorities opted to leave all crewmembers aboard the 239 until the weather improved.
Volgoneft 212 was more than five decades old, and had recently received major modifications in a yard period. According to ABC, her hull had been cut in two amidships - typically a prelude to lengthening to increase cargo capacity.
A large fleet of Soviet-era tankers and bulkers still ply the waters of the Black Sea, providing low-cost transport along the coasts and inland waterways. These aging vessels have repeatedly broken up and sunk in heavy weather in recent years, including one in 2021 that was smashed by modest swells while at anchor.
In 2007, another aging Volgoneft tanker - Volgoneft-139 - broke up under similar circumstances in Kerch Strait.
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