Volgoneft 212
The Volgoneft 212 was a small coastal oil tanker operated by the Russian shipping firm Volgotanker.[1] She was built in the 1970s, and sank near the Kerch Strait on December 15, 2024. Another similar vessel, the Volgoneft 239 sank nearby, the same day.
CNN reports the two ships were in sight of one another when they went down.[2] They report winds of up to 70 kilometres per hour (43 mph).
The Volgoneft 212 had a shallow draft, as it was designed to transit Russia's navigable rivers and the Russian canal system.[3] She was 136 metres (446 ft) long, 16 metres (52 ft) wide and had a draught of 3.5 metres (11 ft). Her MMSI was 273333930. Because she only sailed in Russian waters she had no International Maritime Organization number (IMO number).
Sam Cogliano asserted, on February 19, 2025, that the reason the two tankers left the safety the canal system is that they were being used to evade the sanctions against buying Russian oil.[4] Oil was taken in these small Russian tankers to load other vessels to load larger vessels, on the high seas. This allowed the larger vessel's log to show they had not visited a Russian port.
References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ Tom Bennett (2024-12-15). "Two Russian oil tankers wrecked in Black Sea's Kerch Strait". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2024-12-15. Retrieved 2024-12-17.
- ↑ Catherine Nicholls (2024-12-16). "Badly damaged Russian tankers carrying thousands of tons of fuel spill oil near Black Sea". CNN. Retrieved 2024-12-17.
- ↑ "Volgoneft 212, Tanker - MMSI: 273333930". MarineTraffic.com. Retrieved 2024-12-17.
- ↑ Sam Cogliano (2025-02-19). "Are Russian Ships Going Boom or Are They Just Falling Apart and Sinking?". What's Going on With Shipping? via YouTube. Retrieved 2024-12-25.