Faced With Public Pressure, Russia Steps Up Kerch Strait Cleanup

One month after two aging coastal tankers broke up near the Kerch Strait, their cargoes of heavy fuel oil continue to contaminate beaches in Crimea and Krasnodar, and Russian authorities have decided to ramp up the the response.

Last month, the aging river-sea tanker Volgoneft 212 sank in a severe storm about five nautical miles outside of the Kerch Strait. The tanker Volgoneft 239 went aground off Taman shortly after, and it gradually broke up and began leaking its cargo. The two tankers w…