One dead and liters of oil spilled: impressive images of the sinking of two oil tankers off the coast of Crimea

A Russian tanker carrying thousands of tons of petroleum products broke in two this Sunday, December 15, due to a strong stormspilling oil into the Kerch Strait, while another Russian tanker was also in distress after suffering damage, Russian officials said.

At least one person was killedit was clarified.

The Volgoneft 212, a 136 meter long tanker with 15 people on boardwas cut in two and its bow sank into the waters, images published by state media show. Waves submerged the deck of the ship, built in 1969, before it ran aground, authorities said.

“There was a spill of petroleum products”reported the Russian shipping agency, Rosmorrechflot.

A second ship also flying the Russian flag, the Volgoneft 239, 132 meters long, is adrift after suffering damage, the Emergency Situations Ministry said. The ship has a crew of 14 and was built in 1973.

The risk of an oil spill

Both tankers have a loading capacity approximately 4,200 tonnes of petroleum products.

An unverified video posted on Telegram shows blackened water on rough seas and a half-submerged oil tanker.

Russian authorities have not provided details on the scale of the oil spill or why one of the tankers was so badly damaged.

The ships were in the Kerch Strait, between mainland Russia and Crimea, annexed from Ukraine by Russia in 2014, when they transmitted distress signals.

According to Moscow, more than 50 people and equipmentincluding Mi-8 helicopters and rescue tugs, were deployed to the area.

According to the Russian newspaper Kommersant, the Volgoneft 212 tanker was carrying around 4,300 tonnes of fuel oil.