MOSCOW, March 26. /TASS/. The fuel oil that is left in the Black Sea after the oil tanker incident in the Kerch Strait totals 3,100 tons, Deputy Transport Minister Alexander Poshivay said.
"The state of emergency in the Black Sea is still in force now as two captains of separate tankers entered the prohibited region at the wrong time violating the law. As a result we have 3,100 tons of fuel oil remaining in the Black Sea now," he told a forum.
"It (fuel oil - TASS) has partially been removed," Poshivay said, adding though that "this is indeed a serious disaster."
On December 15, the Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239 tankers were caught in a storm in the Kerch Strait area in the Black Sea. The Volgoneft-212 subsequently sank while the other ship ran aground. One sailor died, and the rest were evacuated. According to emergency services, the tankers were carrying about 9,200 metric tons of fuel oil. An oil spill occurred in the Black Sea as a result of the accident. According to the Russian Ministry of Transport, about 2,400 metric tons of oil products leaked into the Black Sea.