A Russian oil tanker carrying thousands of tonnes of oil products split apart during a heavy storm on Sunday (December 15), spilling oil into the Kerch Strait, while another tanker was also in distress after sustaining damage, Russian officials said, Reuters reports.
One video, shared by Svetlanana Radiovna, head of Russia's natural resources watchdog Rosprirodnadzor (Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources), showed at least one of the broken tankers at sea.
Russian investigators opened two criminal cases to look into possible safety violations after at least one person was killed when the 136-meter Volgoneft 212 tanker, with 15 people on board, split in half with its bow sinking, separate footage published by state media showed, with waves washing over its deck.
Radiovna said specialists were assessing the damage at the site of the incident and Russia's Kommersant newspaper reported that the Volgoneft 212 tanker was carrying about 4,300 tonnes of fuel oil.
The Russian-flagged vessel, built in 1969, was damaged and had run aground, officials said.
"There was a spill of petroleum products," said Russia's water transport agency, Rosmorrechflot.
A second Russian-flagged ship, the 132-meter Volgoneft 239, was drifting after sustaining damage, the emergency ministry said. It has a crew of 14 people and was built in 1973.
Both tankers have a loading capacity of about 4,200 tonnes oil products.
Official statements did not provide details on the extent of the spill or why one of the tankers sustained such serious damage.
The vessels were in the Kerch Strait between mainland Russia and Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, when they issued distress signals.
Russia said more than 50 people and equipment, including Mi-8 helicopters and rescue tugboats, had been deployed to the area.
