“Due to bad weather, the ship Volgoněft 212 was damaged in the Kerch Strait. There are 13 people on board. The crew asked for help,” the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations said on Telegram.
Rescue services told the TASS agency that the bow of the tanker was torn off in a storm and that the crew was in the back of the ship.
The authorities added that they do not yet have any information on whether there was a fuel oil leak. The accident occurred eight kilometers from the coast.
An hour after the Volgoněft 212 tanker broke apart, the Volgoněft 239 tanker also ran into problems, which was engulfed by the waves and is currently sinking. Telegram channel Shot reported that both crews are still waiting for rescue, which is complicated by weather conditions.
Nevertheless, the Russian Ministry said that it had sent a Mi-8 helicopter to the site as well as the “Merkur” tugboat, which will try to tow the remains of the ship to the coast. The Russian server Interfax later reported that oil was leaking at the site and that one person had died on board tanker number 239.
The Shot channel further reported that the Russian authorities issued a storm warning on Saturday. Wind gusts reach up to 80 km/h.
The Kerch Strait separates the Russian Federation from the Ukrainian Crimean Peninsula, which the Russian occupiers illegally annexed in 2014. Russian leader Vladimir Putin had the so-called Krymsky, also known as Kerch, bridge built over it, which connects the two places.
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