Prosecutors: port directors criminally negligent in shipwrecks, Russian oil spil

ROSTOV-ON-DON, Russia: Russian transport prosecutors accused the directors of two Black Sea region ports of criminal negligence in connection with a series of shipwrecks earlier this month that resulted in a massive oil spill, an official said Wednesday.

Officials could file formal charges by year’s end against the directors of the ports of Kavkaz and Rostov-on-Don for failing to adequately oversee navigation before the Nov. 11 storm, said Yelena Velikhova, a spokeswoman with transport prosecutor’s office for the southern federal district.


The storm battered almost a dozen vessels in the Kerch Strait, sinking some and wrecking others. Six sailors were killed.

The port directors should have ordered the ships to be moved to a safe area, Velikhova said.

More than 3,000 metric tons (979,000 gallons) of oil spilled from the tanker Volgoneft-139 into the strait that connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Azov, and environmental officials said nearly 15,000 birds died as a result.

AP