Russia is carrying out operations on Sunday to rescue the crews of two oil tankers damaged during a storm near annexed Crimea, one of them having partly sunk, killing at least one person and releasing fuel into the sea.
“Due to a storm in the Black Sea, two tankers, the Volgoneft-212 and the Volgoneft-239, suffered an accident,” said the Russian Federal Agency for River and Maritime Transport (Rosmorretchflot).
In a press release on Telegram, it specifies that the disaster resulted in “a spill of petroleum products”. “A rescue operation was organized, two tugboats and two helicopters were sent to the tankers,” adds the agency.
Both boats are in the Kerch Strait, which connects Russia to Ukrainian Crimea annexed by Moscow.
On Telegram, Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry said one crew member of the Volgoneft 212 had died and 12 more of its sailors had been evacuated.
According to this source, this ship was “damaged and ran aground”, while the other, which has a crew of 14 people, was “set adrift”.
Videos published by Russian media show one end of the Volgoneft 212 partially submerged in rough water and floating vertically.
