On the wave: what happened to tankers on Sakhalin and in the Leningrad region

On Sunday, February 9, two foreign tankers had accidents in several regions of Russia. Thus, first, a Chinese dry cargo ship An Yang 2 ran aground off the coast of Sakhalin, and later in the port of Ust-Luga, Leningrad Region, an incident occurred with the tanker Koala, which sails under the flag of Antigua and Barbuda. Currently, special services are eliminating the consequences of the emergency. There are no casualties as a result of the accident, no fuel oil spillage has been recorded. Read more about what happened and whether the next wreck can lead to an environmental disaster - in the material "Izvestia".

Incident with a tanker on Sakhalin: what happened, the latest news

On the night of Sunday, February 9, in the seaport of Nevelsk ran aground in the Chinese bulk carrier An Yang 2. The dry cargo ship left the city of Jiangyin to Nevelsk. The wreck happened unexpectedly. The ship was standing on the loading of coal, it was loaded on the roadstead. Suddenly a storm began, the captain was unable to cope with the control, and the tanker was thrown onto the land.

The vessel was carrying about 1000 tons of coal, 50 tons of diesel fuel and 2.7 tons of motor oil. The main cause of the incident, according to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, was damage to the ballast tanks, which are necessary to make the vessel stable.

The tanker's crew of 20 people was not injured, people are provided with food and water. Rosmorrechflot found out that the tanker had damaged the salt water compartment, which is necessary for stability (the ability of a vessel to return to a straight position after it has been tilted by external forces such as wind or waves).

Emergency mode has been declared in the Nevelsky district, while the region is on high alert. Also created an operational headquarters, mobilized and organized round-the-clock duty of specialized services.

In addition, the captain of the Chinese vessel is currently not in touch with constructive proposals and does not request any assistance. Therefore, the Sakhalin authorities have to act on their own. At the same time, bad weather prevents rescuers from approaching An Yang 2. After its improvement, a decision will be made on unloading the bulk carrier or taking it off the shoal.

According to the head of the region Valery Limarenko, the main thing at the moment is to exclude environmental risks, for which the necessary measures are being taken.

Tanker An Yang 2: how the events are developing now

At the moment, no fuel spillage or other technical pollution has been recorded in the area of the bulk carrier. However, to prevent an ecological crisis, booms are being installed near the grounded Chinese vessel An Yang 2 in Nevelsk.

Now the storm continues near the western coast of Sakhalin Island, the height of waves reaches 3-4 meters, visibility is still poor due to heavy snowstorms. Despite this, the rescuers are gradually beginning preparations for pumping fuel from the tanker, and a technical road is already being laid to the site of the incident. After the storm is over, the underwater part of the vessel will be examined by divers.

Petr Osichansky, president of the Far Eastern Association of Sea Captains, noted that if it is not possible to remove the vessel from the shoal, it will be necessary to dispose of it in parts, it may take several years, and the income from the sale of metal will not recoup the cost of the work.

"If the bulk carrier is not sitting aground so deep that the reefs have entered the cargo areas, then surveying, though with great difficulty, is possible. But if the storm in this area continues for another three or four days and the vessel is chattering, the situation will worsen and the extent of the damage will be increased," Osichansky added.

A seven-member Morsspassluzhba emergency rescue team has prepared OSR equipment - an emergency kit of materials and means for oil spill response. Emergency services are on duty at the site and the situation is being monitored around the clock.

Repetition of the scenario: what happened in 2021

Sakhalin authorities fear a repeat of the story with another foreign vessel. In December 2021, the Chinese dry cargo ship Xing Yuan, which belonged to Sierra Leone, sank off the coast of the region. The owners of the vessel refused to take measures for its utilization, the funds had to be allocated from the regional budget.

The complex of measures to remove the vessel from customs control was completed in December 2023, it was the first such practice in Russia. Today about 70% of the vessel has been utilized. Full completion is planned for spring 2025.

Since 2022, 72 wrecks have been removed on Sakhalin. The regional authorities and the federal center are looking for a system solution on how to hold foreign shipowners accountable if they refuse to carry out wreck disposal works at their own expense.

Technogenic incident in the port of the Leningrad Region: foreign tanker Koala

Another accident occurred on Sunday morning, February 9, in another part of the country, the port of Ust-Luga in the Leningrad Region. The cause of the Koala tanker wreck was a "technogenic incident". According to Rosmorrechflot's version, an explosion occurred in the engine room while preparing the ship's main engine for operation.

The cargo tanks of the vessel were not damaged, no spillage of fuel oil loaded on the tanker and no leakage of oil products was detected. Now booms are installed around the tanker, and specialists are preparing an examination of its underwater part.

At the time of the accident the vessel, which sails under the flag of Antigua and Barbuda, was carrying 130 thousand tons of fuel oil. Koala arrived in Ust-Luga in the early morning of February 6, and the last data from it, recorded by specialized services for tracking ships, came on February 7.

The tanker has a crew of 24 people, including four Russians, eight Georgian citizens and 12 Indonesians. All of them were evacuated. The vessel itself is now at a berth in the port of Ust-Luga.