MOSCOW, December 17. /TASS/. The crew of the Volgoneft 109 tanker, which sent a distress signal in the port of Kavkaz, is safe, a spokesman for the maritime rescue service told TASS.

"The Volgoneft 109 was moored in the port of Kavkaz. According to the captain, the ship’s cargo tank was damaged but the hull was not breached. The crew is safe," the spokesman said.

The tanker was escorted to a safer mooring by the Mercury rescue boat, which is staying by the tanker for safety reasons.

The Volgoneft 212 and Volgoneft 239 tankers wrecked in the Black Sea on December 15 amid a storm. One of them ran aground and all of its crew of 13 were evacuated. However, one of them, a 23-year-old native of the city of Astrakhan, died. Two criminal cases were initiated. Russian President Vladimir Putin was briefed about the situation and ordered to organize rescue operations in the Kerch Strait. Fourteen crewmembers were evacuated from the other vessel on December 16. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishuistin has set up working group to address the aftermath of the incident.

The disaster resulted in a fuel oil leak into the Black Sea waters, the Federal Agency for Sea and Inland Water Transport reported. Earlier, experts told TASS that the oil slick threatening aquatic and coastal ecosystems was drifting northward. After reaching the Kerch Strait, it began moving toward the coast of the Krasnodar Region. Later satellite images showed another group of oil slicks located to the southeast of the scene, not far from the Temryuksky district and the resort city of Anapa. Earlier on Tuesday, it was reported that the oil from the tankers has polluted an area of more than 30 kilometers along the Krasnodar Region coast. The oil removal operation is underway. A state of emergency was declared in five settlements on the coast.