In the neutral waters of the Kerch Strait on January 21, 2019, two Tanzanian vessels caught fire transporting liquefied natural gas. The reason for the tragedy that claimed the lives of 20 sailors was the illegal pumping of gas on the high seas, which is prohibited by international law. However, the roots of the problem go much deeper than the banal irresponsibility of the captains of two tankers who decided on a risky maneuver.
Chronicle of the incident
On Monday, January 21, Rosmorrechflot reported that the Venis and Maestro tankers, sailing under the flag of Tanzania, were burning in the Kerch Strait. Shortly before this, ships called at the Kuban port of Temryuk. The fire began during anchorage in the open sea, which was arranged to pump natural gas, bypassing all safety requirements. Later, on one of the ships, the fire that started led to an explosion. The total volume of gas transported by tankers exceeded 4.5 tons.
On board the two ships were more than 30 crew members, mostly citizens of Turkey and India. Russian rescue ships rushed to their aid, and the search for survivors was also carried out by helicopter. 12 people were saved and the bodies of 14 dead were found. The rest of the sailors are reported missing, but the chances of finding them alive tend to zero.
The fire did not affect shipping in the area of the incident. However, there was a threat of environmental pollution as a result of oil spills. Complicated weather conditions make it difficult to fully appreciate its scale.
Fire causes
Shortly before the tragedy, the Maestro tanker was denied the use of a gas terminal in the port of Temryuk because the ship was included in the US sanctions list for transporting oil to Syria. Work with him threatens suppliers, terminal operators and customers falling under sanctions. At the same time, the Venice tanker was not denied service. As a rule, it was fueled by Russian and Kazakh gas, in order to then transfer fuel to the Maestro, which delivered it to Syria.
It is the restrictions on direct supplies of natural resources to this Arab country that push companies to gray schemes. At the same time, experts do not believe that large volumes of energy carriers get into Syria in this way. There are other, more convenient options. For example, gas re-purchase and re-chartering through offshore.
The use of small vessels (2-5 thousand tons) also delays this process in time. To fill a tanker with a volume of over 100 thousand tons, more than a dozen pumpings from donor ships are required. All illegal operations are carried out in the free zone, and the ships that deliver the goods to their destination, sometimes spend years at sea, never entering the port.
