Sunken tankers used to sail in Kerch Strait in violation of seasonal navigation restrictions - Russian Transport Ministry

KRASNODAR. Dec 24 (Interfax) - The sunken tankers used to sail in the Kerch Strait in violation of seasonal restrictions on navigation in the water area, the Russian Transport Ministry said in a statement.

"During the Federal Service for Supervision of Transport (Rostransnadzor)'s check, it was established that both vessels used to sail in the Kerch Strait in violation of seasonal restrictions on navigation in the water area. Several tankers belonging to CJSC Volgatransneft are not included in the license for shipping dangerous goods by inland water and maritime transport," the statement said.

The institutions subordinate to the Russian Transport Ministry are continuing a cleanup effort in the Kerch Strait water area, it said. Over 170 square kilometers of the water area have been surveyed for pollution since the accident involving two tankers, Volgoneft 212 and Volgoneft 239, occurred.

The Transport Ministry continues to monitor the situation in the Kerch Strait water area. All of the contaminated areas discovered in the water area have been cleaned up, and no recurrent contamination has been detected.

On December 15, two tankers, Volgoneft 212 and Volgoneft 239, carrying fuel oil crashed in the Kerch Strait, killing one crewmember. All others were evacuated. The incident led to an oil spill. The contaminated beach line extended to 54 kilometers.

The village of Blagoveshchenskaya and four communities in the Temryuk district of the Krasnodar Territory declared an emergency.

On the morning of December 23, the monitoring teams found the fuel oil washed up on the beaches in Anapa again following the storm.

Krasnodar Territory Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said on Monday that the oil products are expected to be removed from the beaches following the tankers' wreck by February 1, 2025.