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A Russian tanker broke during a severe storm in the Black Sea on Sunday, spilling some of its 4,300 tonnes of heavy oil, in what could be the region’s biggest environmental disaster in years.
The aircraft carrier Volgodonsk 212 broke apart and sank about 8 kilometers from the coast due to bad weather in the Kerch Strait, which separates the east coast of the Russian-annexed Crimean Peninsula from the Russian mainland. At least one crew member died, emergency services said.
Another airline, Volgodonsk 239, carrying similar cargo, suffered damage and ran aground shortly after, emergency services said. It stopped in shallow water 80 meters from the shore near Taman Port.
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his cabinet to set up a working group to rescue the ship’s crew and deal with the impact of the spill.
Emergency services evacuated 13 people from Volgodonsk Flight 212, 11 of whom were hospitalized with hypothermia, two of whom were in critical condition.
The crew remained on tanker No. 2 as of Sunday evening due to bad weather. Emergency services said the damaged ship was loaded with “everything needed for primary disaster relief.”
Officials told Russian news agency Interfax that they were investigating the possibility of crew error and storm damage as reasons for the grounding.
Interfax said the tankers were built in the early 1980s and are designed primarily for river use, venturing into coastal waters only in calm weather.
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Emergency services said a film typical of oil spills was starting to become visible in the waters around Volgodonsk Flight 212, but they did not have exact data on how much of the cargo had spilled.
A video posted on the social media app Telegram showed waves crashing on the deck, smashing the ship and turning the surrounding sea black.
The Kerch Strait has become a major conduit for Russian agricultural and energy exports, including grain sold from occupied Ukrainian territory, after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Kiev has claimed exclusive rights to the strait since Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, accusing it of violating international law.
