Russian ‘shadow fleet’ tanker sinks, another runs aground in Kerch Strait

Two tankers linked to the so-called Russian ‘shadow fleet’ encountered a storm near the Kerch Strait and were heavily damaged. As a result, one of the vessels split into two and sank while the other one ran aground.

The two ships, identified as Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239, were carrying almost 9,000 tons of fuel oil at the time of the incident which reportedly occurred on December 15, 2024.

As informed, the hull of the tanker Volgoneft-212 broke on Sunday morning near Cape Takil in the southern part of the Kerch Strait which connects Black and Azov seas. The emergency occurred in stormy conditions with wind speeds of up to 24 m/s and waves of about 3 meters, the Federal Agency for Sea and Inland Water Transport (Rosmorrechflot) informed via Telegram.

With the help of helicopters and a rescue tug, twelve people were rescued from Volgoneft 212, while one seafarer died from hypothermia.

The tanker Volgoneft-239 was hit by the storm in the same area later that morning. Caught in high waves, the stern of the vessel drifted to the shore off ​​​​Cape Panagia and ran aground 80 meters from the coastline, near the Port of Taman. All fourteen crew members were safely evacuated to shore, the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation (EMERCOM of Russia) confirmed.

The damages resulted in an oil spill and Russian authorities have been assessing the situation. EMERCOM of Russia later revealed that the fuel from the tankers had leaked partially, with some of the fuel tanks being undamaged. The oil spill is drifting towards the coast off Cape Panagia to the Tuzla Spit and is being monitored, according to Rosmorrechflot.

Referring to satellite monitoring data, TASS, a Russian state-owned news agency, reported that about 3,000 tons of fuel leaked from the damaged tankers.

Specialists from several government-backed agencies are completing preparatory work to clean up the spilled fuel oil, Rosmorrechflot added.

Due to weather conditions, the operation of the Kerch Strait ferry line has been suspended.

The risks of Russia’s growing shadow fleet

The two ill-fated tankers reportedly belong(ed) to the Russian shadow fleet. These ships—often old, uninsured and with unclear ownership—are used for export of Russia’s crude oil and petroleum products abroad, despite international sanctions.

For years, NGOs have been warning authorities in Europe and around the globe of the risk of environmental disasters, including oil spills, caused by such vessels.

Both Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239 were on their way to deliver fuel for the Russian Navy with the Marine Traffic location system being switched off for 12 days already. Tracking data from October 1st showed that the delivery route was supposed to start in Volgograd and end in Kerch Strait, the Ukrainian branch of the independent global campaigning network Greenpeace said.

“Any oil or petrochemical spill in these waters has the potential to be serious. It is likely to be driven by prevailing wind and currents (moving now to the North-East) and in the current weather conditions is likely to be extremely difficult to contain. If it is driven ashore, then it will cause fouling of the shoreline which will be extremely difficult to clean up,” Paul Johnston, Head of Greenpeace Research Laboratories, based at the University of Exeter in the UK, commented.

“Any environmental impact will depend on the type of oil spilled. Heavy residual fuel oils will tend to cause more visible damage than refined fractions and marine gas oil which will tend to disperse and break up quite rapidly. Given the potential for significant environmental impacts the focus should, after rescuing crew, be to try and minimize any further spillage if possible. If the ships sink, then there is the potential for releases of oil and petrochemicals over a longer time span.”

This region has already suffered from an oil spill in 2007 when 1,200 tons of oil escaped from one Russian tanker combined with other contamination. It resulted in severe damage to the environment, observed even a year after the accident.  

New sanctions targeting the shadow fleet

A month ago, the European parliamentarians raised the issue of Russia’s shadow fleet, calling on the EU to impose “more targeted” sanctions against the (mal)practice.

This December, the EU Council adopted the 15th sanctions package against Russia, with the focus to keep cracking down on the country’s shadow fleet.

This targeted approach by the EU is said to increase the cost for Russia to use such vessels as they are no longer able to do business as usual in the EU or with EU operators. It also reduces the number of vessels in Russia’s shadow fleet that are able to carry Russian crude oil.

• S&P Global: Russia’s ghost fleet estimated at 434 vessels
• LNG and dark fleet emerge as salient points of EU’s new raft of sanctions against Russia
• IMO calls for urgent action as shadow fleet raises safety and liability concerns