Two Russian oil tankers split into two and sink in powerful Black Sea storm

Two oil tankers — Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239 — are sinking in the Kerch Strait several kilometers from the shore. People have been waiting for help on the decks for about four hours.

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org by Alexxx1979, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Volgoneft 212

Reports about the sinking Volgoneft-212 tanker appeared first. The vessel was carrying over 4,000 tons of fuel oil. Reports about another similar vessel in distress — Volgoneft-239 — appeared an hour later.

Powerful waves crushed the two vessels as they were traveling at a distance of approximately eight kilometers from the shore. There are 13 crew members on board each vessel.

A Mi-8 helicopter of the Russian Emergencies Ministry was sent to help people on the sinking tankers.

Initially, rescuers received a distress signal from the crew of the Volgoneft-212 tanker. A tugboat of the Marine Rescue Coordination Center was sent from the Kerch Bay to the ships in distress.

Eight people have been rescued from the tankers in distress. None of the rescued and remaining crew members on board were injured.

The Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239 tankers started sinking amid a powerful storm. The waves broke the two vessels into two.

The Volgoneft-212 vessel was en route from Volgograd to the port of Kavkaz. The second vessel, registered in Astrakhan, is still afloat and drifting towards Taman.