An oil slick reaches the Russian coast after two tankers crashed in the Kerch Strait

An oil spill caused by two Russian oil tankers being badly damaged in a storm in the Kerch Strait two days ago has reached the Russian Black Sea coast.
The governor of the Krasnodar Territory, Veniamin Kondratiev, said in a post on the Telegram platform that the oil extended along the coast for tens of kilometers.
He added that hundreds of cleaning workers and volunteers are trying to remove the pollution.

Remove tons of contaminated sand

The Marine Rescue Service reported removing up to a ton of contaminated sand from the coast.

It was reported that the two tankers, which crashed in Sunday’s storm, were carrying a total of 9,000 tons of heating oil.
They were damaged on the high seas between the Russian mainland and the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula.
Reports stated that one of the crew members died.

View from a tanker loaded with heating oil

Another tanker loaded with heating oil anchored off the port of Qavkaz on the Russian side of the Kerch Strait sent out an emergency alert, Russian news agencies reported separately.

Reports stated that the hull of the ship “Volgunft-109” did not sustain any damage, nor did any fuel leak into the sea, and that the crew was transferred to a safe place.
The Kerch Strait separates the Crimean Peninsula from mainland Russia, and connects the Sea of ​​Azov to the Black Sea.
Much of Russia’s tanker fleet is old and in poor condition.