KRASNODAR, March 10. /TASS/. The Kama Shipping company has not admitted responsibility for the sinking of the Volgoneft-212 tanker near the Kerch Strait, a TASS correspondent reported from the courtroom.
The company filed a motion in court to attach documents according to which Kamatransoil is the shipowner, while Kama Shipping is the merchant charterer.
After the sinking of the tankers, the Federal State Budgetary Institution Morspassluzhba (the Marine Rescue Service) filed a lawsuit against the companies Kama Shipping and Kamatransoil. The third parties in the lawsuit are the All-Russian Insurance Company and Volgatransneft.
The claim is related to compensation for expenses for work to eliminate the consequences of the wreck of the tankers Volgoneft-239 and Volgoneft-212 near the Kerch Strait. Earlier, in civil disputes, Kama Shipping was listed as the shipowner of Volgoneft-212.
On Monday, a preliminary court hearing was held in the Arbitration Court of the Krasnodar Region.
"In accordance with Article 316 of the [Merchant] Shipping Code, the owner of the vessel is responsible for incidents involving oil pollution. According to the meaning of the same article, the registered owner of the vessel is regarded as the owner of the vessel in the context of liability for oil pollution. We are enclosing documents, namely a certificate of ownership, according to which the registered owner of the Volgoneft-212 tankers is Kamatransoil LLC. Accordingly, we believe that Kama Shipping, which was the merchant charterer, is not responsible," the representative of Kama Shipping and Kamatransoil said in court.
About the emergency with tankers
Earlier, the Novorossiysk transport prosecutor's office filed three applications to the court to bring to administrative responsibility the ship owner of the tanker Volgoneft-239, the company Volgatransneft, as well as two applications to bring to administrative responsibility the ship owner of the tanker Volgoneft-212, namely Kama Shipping, under Part 2 of Article 14.43 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (violation by the manufacturer, contractor (person performing the functions of a foreign manufacturer), seller of the requirements of technical regulations).
Applications to Kama Shipping were filed regarding the following vessels: Volgoneft-212 and Prikamye. Application to Volgatransneft were filed regarding the vessels Volgoneft-109, Volgoneft-239, Volgoneft-270. At the time of the emergency, all the above-mentioned vessels were in the waters after the permitted sailing season in the area had expired.
The Arbitration Court of Krasnodar Region brought the companies Kama Shipping and Volgatransneft to administrative responsibility for violating technical regulations: Kama Shipping was fined a total of 60,000 rubles ($678,834), Volgatransneft was fined 900,000 rubles ($10,182). Later, the Anapa mayor's office appealed to the Arbitration Court of Krasnodar Region, which intends to levy 211 million rubles ($2.4 mln) from the shipowners of the wrecked tankers for the liquidation of the consequences of the emergency.
About emergency
On December 15, 2024, the Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239 tankers sank in the Kerch Strait area in the Black Sea amid a storm. One sailor died, and the rest were evacuated. According to emergency services, the tankers were carrying about 9,200 tons of fuel oil. An oil spill occurred in the Black Sea as a result of the accident, and clean-up operations are ongoing.
According to the Russian Ministry of Transport, about 2,400 tons of oil products have leaked into the Black Sea, much less than initially estimated. As a result of the disaster, an oil spill occurred in the Black Sea, the consequences of the emergency are being eliminated. A government commission has been created to coordinate the work. According to the Russian Transport Ministry, about 2,400 tons of oil products leaked into the Black Sea.