Two Russian Oil Tankers Damaged in Black Sea, Causing Spill

Russian authorities have reported that two of the country’s oil tankers sustained significant damage in the Black Sea, resulting in an oil spill. Visual evidence distributed by Russia’s Southern Transport Prosecutor’s Office depicted the front section of one tanker entirely detached, with traces of oil observable in the water. It is thought that both tankers drifted before becoming stranded offshore. Reports indicate that at least one crew member lost their life. The event occurred in the Kerch Strait, a waterway that divides Russia from Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula that Moscow unlawfully annexed in 2014. A rescue effort, utilizing tugboats, helicopters, and over 50 individuals, successfully extracted 13 crew members from one tanker before operations were halted because of adverse weather conditions. The Russian emergencies ministry announced on Monday that 14 crew members, who had been stuck on a second tanker, were also saved. President Vladimir Putin has directed the formation of a working group, led by Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Savelyev, to address the incident. Concurrently, authorities are conducting an investigation into potential criminal negligence. Michelle Bockmann, an analyst for the shipping industry publication Lloyd’s List, informed the BBC that the two ships belong to the company Volgatanker and are considered relatively small. Russian officials, cited by Tass news agency, stated that each vessel was transporting approximately 4,300 dead weight tonnes of oil. Bockmann noted that a tanker typically employed for international trade of Russian crude oil possesses a considerably greater capacity, around 120,000 dead weight tonnes, suggesting these particular tankers were probably utilized for oil transport via Russia’s rivers or within its coastal regions. The Kerch Strait serves as a crucial passage for Russian grain exports, in addition to being used for the export of crude oil, fuel oil, and liquefied natural gas. Previously, in 2007, the oil tanker Volgoneft-139 fractured into two sections during a storm while at anchor near the Kerch Strait, releasing over 1,000 tonnes of oil. Since the Kremlin initiated its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russian oil imports have faced extensive sanctions from Ukraine’s allies. In recent years, Russia has faced accusations of employing a so-called “ghost fleet” of tankers, frequently characterized by poor maintenance and insufficient insurance, to transport oil and bypass sanctions. However, Bockmann indicated that the tankers involved in Sunday’s event did not seem to be part of this particular fleet.