Spilled oil has washed up along “tens of kilometres” of the Russian Black Sea coast after two tankers were badly damaged in a storm at the weekend, a regional official said on Tuesday, and state media said a third vessel was now in trouble, Report informs via Reuters.
TASS news agency said the third ship, also a tanker, had issued a distress signal off the port of Kavkaz, but its hull was still intact, there was no oil spillage and the crew was safe.
The first ship, the Volgoneft 212, split in half on Sunday in the Kerch Strait, between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. The second, the Volgoneft 239, ran aground 80 metres (87 yards) from the shore near the port of Taman in the strait.
The ships, both more than 50 years old, were carrying some 9,200 metric tons (62,000 barrels) of oil products in total, TASS reported, raising fears it could become one of the largest environmental disasters to hit the region in years.
Veniamin Kondratyev, governor of the southern Krasnodar region, said fuel oil had been found along the coast between the towns of Temryuk and Anapa.
“This morning, while monitoring the shoreline, stains of fuel oil were discovered. Oil products washed ashore for several tens of kilometres,” he said.
Authorities said a local state of emergency had been declared at four settlements in Temryuk district and one village in Anapa district because of spilled oil on the shoreline.
