Russian news agency TASS reported on Tuesday that a third tanker had sent a distress signal off the Black Sea coast, but its hull was still intact, Reuters reported. NO there was also an oil spill, and the crew was safe.
The RIA news agency reported that the Volgoneft 109 tanker was safely stationed near the port of Kavkaz in the Kerch Strait, which runs between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. Earlier, two other Russian tankers were damaged due to the storm in the same place.
Tanker failure in the Kerch Strait. Massive oil leak
The first ship, Volgoneft 212, broke in half on Sunday. The second, Volgoneft 239, ran aground 80 meters from the shore near the port of Taman on the eastern side of the strait. The ships, both more than 50 years old, were carrying a total of about 62,000 barrels of petroleum products, TASS news agency reported, raising concerns that it could be one of the biggest ecological disasters in the region in years.
A certificate seen by Reuters showed that the third tanker was built in 1973 and was part of the same aging fleet.
Veniamin Kondratyev, governor of the southern Krasnodar region, said a fuel oil leak was discovered along the coast between the cities of Temryuk and Anapa.
– This morning, while monitoring the shoreline, it was discovered fuel oil stains. Petroleum products they swam ashore at a distance of several dozen kilometers, he said. Authorities said that in four towns in Temryuk district and one village in Anapa district were announced local state of emergency due to spilled oil on the shoreline.
Black Sea. Tar stains on the beaches. Oil leaked into the sea
Video published by Zvezda TV showed a black, oil-like substance along the coast in Anapa and tarry spots along the beach dotted with tree branches. Meanwhile, footage broadcast by Wiesti showed several birds covered in oil, flapping their wings as they tried to take off.
The Kerch Strait is a key export route for Russian grain and fuel products. The Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology said on Monday that fuel oil leaked into the seabut the scale of the leak is still unclear.
Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology Alexander Kozlov said that some of the fuel oil may have sunk to the seabed due to low temperatures. One crew member of Volgoneft 212 died in Sunday's accident, while all 14 people on Volgoneft 239 were rescued.
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