Second in a day: another tanker with fuel oil runs aground in Russia

On the night of February 9, the tanker Koala began to sink near the seaport of Ust-Luga in the Leningrad region of Russia. This is the second incident in Russian territorial waters in a day - before that, the Chinese ship An Yang 2 ran aground off the coast of Sakhalin after it suffered a leak.

The vessel flies the flag of Antigua and Barbuda and was carrying 132,000 tons of fuel oil. This was reported by the Telegram channels Baza and Nexta Live.

At two o'clock in the morning, fuel oil was loaded onto the tanker, but in the morning before departure, three powerful explosions occurred in the engine room, after which the tanker began to run aground. The cargo hold was not damaged.

The crew managed to get ashore and were evacuated, so there were no injuries. At the time of the accident, there were 24 crew members on board:

• 4 Russians;
• 8 citizens of Georgia;
• 12 sailors from Indonesia.

According to emergency services, there was no leakage of oil products into the water. However, the Ministry of Emergency Situations installed booms around the tanker to prevent possible pollution.

A source of Vchkogpu said that the incident with the tanker caused a real panic in the port of Ust-Luga. Around five in the morning, the emergency services received a signal about an explosion, with reports of an "external impact" on the tanker. An urgent evacuation was announced in the port itself, and employees corresponded with each other about both the UAV attack and the operation of water drones.

The governor of the Leningrad region of the Russian Federation, Alexander Drozdenko, said that the accident was caused by a "man-made incident during the engine start-up". According to him, the tanker is moored at the pier, and there is no threat of an environmental disaster.

"In the morning in the port of Ust-Luga, a man-made incident occurred on the Koala tanker during the engine start-up, which damaged the engine room. The tanker is moored at the berth. There is no threat of oil spill. The crew has been evacuated, there are no injuries," Drozdenko said.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, the day before, the Chinese cargo ship An Yang 2 ran aground near the Russian port of Nevelsk. It was carrying 1000 tons of coal, 700 tons of fuel oil and 100 tons of diesel fuel. The Russians assured that no fuel leakage was recorded.

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