Volgoneft Tanker Owners Face Lawsuits Over Kerch Strait Spill
The owners of the riverine tankers that split up and sank in the Black Sea in December are facing multiple lawsuits as Russian government agencies try to recover the cost of cleanup from the resulting spills.
The aging tankers Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239 were built under the Soviet "river-sea" fleet program, a Cold War-era drive to build up inland shipping capacity. Russian shipping experts have questioned the fleet's suitability for open-water service in Black Sea winter weather, given that most of these sister ships are over 50 years old, and their design was never intended for rough surface conditions.
On December 15, Volgoneft-212 broke in half and sank in a severe storm about five nautical miles outside of the Kerch Strait. Waves in excess of 25 feet were forecast by Russia's meteorological agency in advance of the sinking, and the effects were enough to snap the aging tanker in half. The tanker was carrying about 4,300 tonnes of mazut, a Russian residual fuel oil produced from low-quality feedstocks. The tanker Volgoneft-239 broke up and grounded near Taman shortly after, spilling a similar load of mazut.
Courtesy Morspas
The cleanup effort for the wreck site of Volgoneft-239 took until the end of January, and it incurred significant costs. A response team led by Russian salvage agency Morspasluzhba (Morspas) built an earthen dike around the perimeter of the wreck, protecting it from wave action and creating a sheltered space for pollution abatement work to proceed. The oil was heated, pumped out and driven off by the truckload.
Morspas has sued Volgatransneft - the owner of the Volgoneft-239 - to recover the full cost of the cleanup, and the case is proceeding at an arbitration court in Krasnodar. Volgatransneft petitioned to have the lawsuit transferred to a court in Moscow, but Morspas objected, and the court refused the request. The hearings will begin in early April; the amount of the claim has yet to be fully calculated.
The same court has already fined Volgatransneft a minor penalty of $3,500 for alleged technical violations in connection with Volgoneft-239's sinking.
Courtesy City of Anapa
Separately, the city of Anapa has filed a claim of $2.4 million against Volgatransneft and Kama Shipping - the owner of the Volgoneft-212 - to recover the costs for the beach cleanup that followed the spills. The city administration plans to increase the claim when extra cleanup costs occur, as more washed-up waste is expected for years to come.
Experts consulted by Forbes put the estimated environmental damage from the spills at about $300 million. The tankers are insured for a maximum of about $30 million for pollution compensation, according to Alexei Kurinny, a Communist Party MP.
The lost vessels were part of a flotilla that provides bunkers for Russia's "dark fleet" near Novorossiysk, and helped transfer fuel oil to at least three U.S.-sanctioned tankers, according to Russian investigative news outlet IStories.
Russia’s Ministry of Transport has confirmed that the fuel oil aboard the tankers belonged to Rosneft, Russia's giant state oil company, which posted a profit of $14 billion in 2023.