Telegram / allkrim
Russia launched a rescue operation on Sunday after two oil tankers capsized in waters off Moscow-linked Crimea and another ruptured, killing at least one sailor and causing an oil spill.
Russia said the storm sank one of the ships, spilling oil into the Kerch Strait, while another tanker was in distress after being damaged, Russian officials said.
Russian investigators have opened two criminal cases to look into “safety violations” after one person was killed when a 136-meter Volgoneft 212 oil tanker, with 15 people on board, was split in half by a sinking bow, state media reported. , and the waves moving over its roof.
The Russian-flagged ship, built in 1969, had been damaged and was wrecked, officials said.
“There was a spill of petroleum products,” said the Russian shipping agency, Rosmorrechflot.
A second Russian-flagged vessel, the 132-metre Volgoneft 239, was adrift after being damaged, the emergency ministry said. It has a staff of 14 people and was built in 1973.
The Kerch Strait is an international shipping lane that separates the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula from the mainland – REUTERS
Both tanks have a loading capacity of approximately 4,200 tonnes of oil products.
Government statements did not provide details on the extent of the damage or why one of the tanks was badly damaged.
President Vladimir Putin ordered the government to create a task force to organize the rescue operation and reduce the damage to the oil, news agencies quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying, after Putin met with the ministers of emergency and environment.
The ships were in the Kerch Strait between Russia and Crimea, which Russia took from Ukraine in 2014, when they showed signs of distress.
Russia said more than 50 people and equipment, including Mi-8 helicopters and rescue tugboats, were sent to the area.
Svetlana Radionova, head of Russia’s Natural Resources watchdog, Rosprirodnadzor, said experts were investigating the damage at the site.
The Russian Kommersant newspaper reported that the Volgoneft 212 vessel was carrying 4,300 tons of oil.
An unverified video posted on Telegram showed some dark water on stormy seas and a half-submerged tank.
Ukraine has been known to attack Russian forces in the area using home-made boats. Kyiv did not speak.
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