A small Russian tanker has sunk in the Kerch Strait during a violent Black Sea storm, killing one seafarer and causing an oil spill.
The Federal Agency for Sea and Inland Water Transport (Rosmorrechflot) identified the vessel as the Volgoneft 212.
Russian news agency Ria Novosti, citing official sources, said a second vessel in distress, the Volgoneft 239, was drifting and ran aground about 80 metres from the shore near the port of Taman.
The Equasis data platform does not feature ships under these names. However, the vessels are listed on MarineTraffic without IMO ship identification numbers but with Maritime Mobile Service Identity (IMMS) identifiers assigned.
Their names suggest they belong to Russian firm Volgotanker, which owns about 40 vessels called Volgoneft under several different numbers.
The Samara-based company is known to store and transport oil products along the Black Sea coast and Russia’s inland waterways.
Almost all Volgotanker ships are old, small clean tankers with a capacity of about 4,000 dwt or 5,000 dwt, built between 1966 and 1990.
According to Rosmorrechflot, there were 29 seafarers on board the Volgoneft 212 and Volgoneft 239 during Sunday’s incident.
Thirteen seafarers have been evacuated from the Volgoneft 212, including one dead person, according to Tass news agency. At least eight had to be lifted from the water and two are said to be hospitalised in serious condition with hypothermia.
Evacuation is underway for the crew of the Volgoneft 239, which was previously reported to be still on board and maintaining radio contact.
“The accident resulted in a spill of oil products,” Rosmorrechflot said. The extent of the oil spill is still under investigation, authorities told Ria Novosti.
Local prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation into the incidents, suspecting a violation of safety regulations.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Tass that the country’s president, Vladimir Putin, gave instructions to coordinate a rescue operation.
The Kerch Strait is a hotspot for opaque vessel movements. It links the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov, which came under Moscow’s full control after Russia invaded Ukraine nearly three years ago.
The Kerch bridge linking mainland Russia to Russian-annexed Crimea is a frequent target of Ukrainian missiles and drones.
Old, small ships are regularly lost across the Black Sea as a result of the region’s violent storms.
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