MOSCOW — A Russian oil tanker carrying thousands of tons of oil products split apart during a heavy storm Sunday, spilling oil into the Kerch Strait, while another tanker was also in distress after sustaining damage, Russian officials said.

An emergency rescue operation is now underway, Russian officials told state news outlets Sunday.

The Volgoneft-212 tanker, which was carrying a crew of 13 and a cargo of fuel oil, ran aground and had its bow torn away, said Russian state news agency TASS, citing the country’s Emergency Situations Ministry. The damage was caused by severe weather conditions, officials said.

A second tanker, the Volgoneft-239, was also damaged in the storm and left drifting in the same area with 14 crewmembers on board, the Emergency Situations Ministry said. The 132-meter, Russian-flagged ship was built in 1973.

Russian investigators opened two criminal cases to investigate possible safety violations after at least one person was killed when the 136-meter Volgoneft-212 tanker, split in half with its bow sinking, footage published by state media showed, with waves washing over its deck. The Russian-flagged vessel was built in 1969.

“There was a spill of petroleum products,” said Russia’s water transport agency, Rosmorrechflot.

Both tankers have a loading capacity of about 4,200 tons of oil products.

Official statements did not provide details on the extent of the spill or why one of the tankers sustained such serious damage.

President Vladimir Putin ordered the government to set up a working group to deal with the rescue operation and mitigate the impact of the fuel spill, news agencies cited Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov as saying, after Putin met with the ministers for emergencies and environment.

Russia said more than 50 people and equipment, including Mi-8 helicopters and rescue tugboats, had been deployed to the area.

Svetlana Radionova, head of Russia’s natural resources watchdog Rosprirodnadzor, said specialists were assessing the damage at the site of the incident.

Russia’s Kommersant newspaper reported that the Volgoneft-212 tanker was carrying about 4,300 tons of fuel oil.

Unverified video posted on Telegram showed some blackened water on stormy seas and a half-submerged tanker.

The vessels were in the Kerch Strait between mainland Russia and Crimea when they issued distress signals.

The Kerch Strait separates the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula from Russia and is an important global shipping route, providing passage from the Sea of Azov to the Black Sea.

It has also been a key point of conflict between Russia and Ukraine after Moscow annexed the peninsula from Ukraine in 2014. In 2016, Ukraine took Moscow to the Permanent Court of Arbitration, where it accused Russia of trying to illegally seize control of the area. In 2021, Russia closed the strait for several months.
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