Two Russian oil tankers sink in Black Sea
Two Russian tankers with 29 crew members on board sank in the Black Sea due to bad weather and are leaking oil, Russian authorities said.
Videos that have emerged on social media – which the BBC has not been able to verify – appear to show an oil tanker being split in half and sinking during a violent storm, with clear traces of oil in the water.
The incident occurred in the Kerch Strait that separates Russia from occupied Crimea.
Rescue and cleanup operations are underway and involve two tugboats, two helicopters and more than 50 personnel, TASS reported.
“Today, two oil tankers Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239 sank due to a storm in the Black Sea,” Rosmorrechflot, Russia’s federal agency for maritime and inland water transport, wrote in a statement.
“There were 15 and 14 crew members on board. The accident resulted in the release of petroleum products,” it continued.
