Larisa Kozova15:58, 15.12.24

During the disaster, the wave height reached 3.5 meters, and the gusty wind speed was 24 m/s.

Today, December 15, two Russian tankers – Volgoneft 212 and Volgoneft-239 – sank near  the Kerch Strait . According to Andriy Klymenko , head of the Institute for Black Sea Strategic Studies , both vessels are very old and have a “river” class, which implies certain limitations.

He published and commented on the relevant map, which indicates the approximate location of the tanker disaster.

“It is about 8 miles from the seaport of Taman (a transshipment port south of the Kerch Strait). The ships are very old – 1955 and 1951,” the expert said.

He draws attention to the fact that during the disaster, the height of the waves at sea reached 3.5 meters, the speed of the gusty wind was 24 m/s, and the vessels were not seagoing, but river vessels.

As Klymenko noted, there is an entry about them in the river register, according to which they have the class M-PR2.5 and O-PR2.0. Based on this information, both vessels should not have gone to sea in such weather.

In particular, class “M” vessels must withstand waves of 3 meters high and up to 40 meters long at a wind speed of up to 24 m/s. Class “O” vessels are allowed to move when the wave height is slightly more than 2 meters for a length of up to 20 meters, and wind speed – up to 21 m/s.

As Klymenko explains, the additional abbreviation “PR” means that the vessel is adapted for sailing in coastal sea waters. Vessels of this class are subject to increased requirements regarding the permissible wave height: for “O-PR” – 2 meters, for “M-PR” – 2.5 meters.

The specialist adds that the tanker “Volgoneft-212” (home port St. Petersburg) was built by the Volgograd Shipbuilding Plant in 1969. The deadweight of the vessel is 4,953 tons. The same enterprise built “Volgoneft-239” (home port Astrakhan) in 1973, deadweight – 4,999 tons:

“The current state of both – broke in the Kerch Strait on December 15.”

(C)UNIAN 2024