Badly damaged Russian tankers carrying thousands of tons of fuel spill oil near Black Sea

Two Russian tankers carrying thousands of tons of fuel were badly damaged in stormy weather near the Black Sea over the weekend, leading to an oil spill, according to Russian state media.

The Volgoneft 212 and Volgoneft 239 vessels were in the Kerch Strait between mainland Russia and annexed Crimea when they got into peril on Sunday, with winds in the area reaching up to 45 mph (70 kph).

Video circulating on unofficial Ukrainian and Russian Telegram channels appeared to show one large ship snapped in two, with water spilling over the edge of the top deck of the vessel as choppy waves rocked it from side to side.

The bow of a ship, seen in the background of the video, was broken off and appeared just above the water line. Crew members could be seen wearing lifejackets as the camera spun around.

Russian state media TASS reported that those on board both vessels were rescued, though one crew member of the Volgoneft 212 is reported to have died.

The tankers were carrying more than 9,000 tons of oil, emergency services reported, according to TASS. Some of this oil spilled into the Kerch Strait, which specialists were preparing to clean up, it said.

The oil spill “has the potential to be serious,” Greenpeace Ukraine said in a statement published on Sunday, especially given the area’s weather conditions, which could make the leak “extremely difficult to contain.”

The impact of the spill could also depend on the type of oil the vessels were carrying, Paul Johnston, head of Greenpeace Research Laboratories, said in the statement. Heavy residual fuel oils would cause more damage than other substances, he said.

The region suffered a similar oil spill in November 2007, when five ships sank in storms in the Black Sea and the Azov Sea.

In that incident, strong winds and high surf caused the Volgoneft 139 to split in two, spilling up 560,000 gallons, or approximately 1,000 tons, of fuel oil.