The fire in the Kerch Strait is a tragedy that claimed the lives of sailors.
According to official figures, 14 people died and 3 people are considered missing. All of them are citizens of Turkey and India.
Fire in the Kerch Strait
The fire in the Kerch Strait became one of the most discussed tragic events in early 2019. On the ships "Maestro" and "Candy" on January 21, a fire broke out. This happened during the reloading of fuel from one vessel to another. Both ships left the port of Temryuk in the Kuban.
The incident occurred outside the territorial waters of Russia. Both ships sailed under the flag of Tanzania and caught fire in the neutral waters of the Black Sea on the way to the Kerch Strait. At present, the Russian Investigative Committee has opened several criminal cases. Experts note that the cause of the accident could be illegal transportation of fuel, a violation of safety procedures when reloading fuel from one side to another.
It is already known that the "Maestro" and "Candy" were illegally parked during the pumping of liquefied gas. The fire started at the Maestro gas carrier, but very quickly the fire passed to the second vessel and an explosion occurred.
It was established that both vessels belong to the owner from Turkey and are included in the US sanctions list and the "black list" of Crimea. Violation of international law is one of the reasons for what happened according to some experts. An embargo was imposed since both ships had previously supplied fuel to Syria.
How many people died
At the start of the fire, 32 sailors were on board two ships. All of them were citizens of Turkey and India.
One of the serious violations was the lack of special warning devices on the sides. Having embarked on the anchorage, the captains had to transmit the corresponding signals to the shore, but the satellite beacons were turned off. We learned about the tragedy on the shore with a little delay. The Novorossiysk Marine Rescue Coordination Center immediately responded to the information received. About 10 ships and 3 special-purpose ships were involved in the rescue operation.
Despite all the efforts of the rescuers, the fire has still not been extinguished. Vessels burn for 4 days. One of the ships heeled heavily.
A day later, the rescue operation was renamed into a search operation, as it became clear that there were no more living people on board. Rescuers who arrived at the scene of the tragedy say that many sailors managed to jump into the water and sail to a safe distance.
Currently, 14 deaths are known. 3 sailors are considered missing. The rest of the people are saved. The hospitals of Anapa, Gelendzhik and Novorossiysk immediately declared their readiness to accept all the victims. According to the latest data, some of the sailors are in the medical facilities of Kerch, where there is everything necessary to help people with burns, hypothermia and various injuries.
