Throughout 2024 and January 2025, at least 11 Volgoneft-type tankers went to sea despite being barred by classification certificates, discovered «Important Stories».
Over the past year, 44 such tankers unloaded at the port of «Kavkaz», seven of them followed the route of two sunken «Volgonefts» in violation of rules after the disaster.
On December 15, the tankers «Volgoneft-212» and «Volgoneft-239» were wrecked at the exit of the Kerch Strait into the Black Sea. They were supposed to deliver four thousand tons of fuel oil to the storage tanker FIRN at the transshipment area of the port «Kavkaz». A day after the accident in the Kerch Strait, the tanker «Volgoneft-141» with a ban on going to open sea unloaded more than 4000 tons of fuel oil onto a storage tanker at the port «Kavkaz», and on December 17, «Volgoneft 109» sent a distress signal, having gone to sea with expired documents.
Port documents reviewed by the publication indicate that a huge portion of the oil products from «Volgoneft» tankers were intended for Russia's shadow tanker fleet, which exports Russian oil bypassing sanctions. Throughout 2024 and January 2025, they made nearly 200 trips from Rostov-on-Don to the port «Kavkaz» and delivered 800 thousand tons of oil products to storage tankers.
300 thousand tons of fuel oil were intended for the tanker FIRN, which the GUR of Ukraine and Greenpeace** classify as part of Russia's shadow fleet. «Volgonefts» also unloaded onto tankers TRIUMPH and NS SILVER, which are under US sanctions, and the tanker COATLICUE.
As reported by «Important Stories», «Volgonefts» were not supposed to operate at sea transporting heavy oil and oil products since 2008, as written 11 years ago by the head of the Marine Engineering Bureau, Gennady Egorov. According to his calculations, by 2012 the accident rate of «Volgonefts» had approximately doubled — to 4-5 disasters per 1000 ships. Egorov concluded that safely transporting oil products on river-sea type tankers is only possible if new ships are built. Meanwhile, half of the «Volgoneft» tankers (23 ships) that unloaded at the port «Kavkaz» were built more than fifty years ago: the oldest is 58 years old, the youngest — 42 years.
* Recognized in Russia as a «foreign agent» and «undesirable» organization.
** Recognized in Russia as an «undesirable» organization.
Photo: Vitaly Timkiv / Sputnik / Imago / Scanpix / Leta