Two Sunken Tankers at Kerch Strait Were Refueling Russia’s Dark Fleet

The two river-sea tankers that broke up near the Kerch Strait last month were part of a flotilla that bunkers Russia’s “dark fleet,” including at least three U.S.-sanctioned deep sea tankers, according to Russian investigative news outlet IStories. Many of their sister ships continue in the same trade today, and many are operating beyond the limits outlined in their registration papers, documents obtained by the outlet suggest. 

Volgoneft-212 and –239 were built between 1969 and 1973, produced under a major Soviet construction program that delivered hundreds of ships for the Black Sea-Volga “river-sea” tanker and freighter fleet. Both broke up in a storm on December 15, spilling an estimated 2,…