MOSCOW (Reuters) – A Russian tanker carrying thousands of tons of oil products broke apart during a storm on Sunday, leaking oil into the Kerch Strait, while another tanker was also damaged, Russian officials said. Trapped.
At least one person died.
Video released by state media showed the bow of the 136-meter-long Volgoneft 212 tanker, which was carrying 15 people, sinking, splitting the hull in half, and waves washing over the deck.
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The Russian-flagged ship, built in 1969, was damaged and ran aground, officials said.
“There was a leak of petroleum products,” Russia’s water transport agency Rosmorrechflot said.
The emergencies ministry said a second Russian-flagged vessel, the 132-metre Volgoneft 239, was drifting after suffering damage. It was built in 1973 and has a crew of 14 people.
The oil product loading capacity of the two tankers is approximately 4,200 tons.
The official statement did not provide details about the extent of the spill or why one of the tankers suffered such severe damage.
The ships sent out distress calls in the Kerch Strait between mainland Russia and Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
Russia said it had deployed more than 50 personnel and equipment to the area, including Mi-8 helicopters and rescue tugs.
Russia’s Kommersant newspaper reported that the Volgoneft 212 tanker was carrying about 4,300 tons of fuel.
Unconfirmed footage posted on Telegram showed patches of dark water in rough seas and a half-submerged oil tanker.
(Reporting by Reuters; Additional reporting by Gleb Stolyarov; Writing by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Bernadette Baum)
