A court in Russia ordered the payment of $621 million in compensation for the fuel oil spill from a tanker near Kerch

The Volgoneft-212 accident in December led to a large-scale environmental disaster in the Black Sea.

The Arbitration Court of the Krasnodar Territory of the Russian Federation ordered the owners of the Volgoneft-212 tanker, which sank on December 15 last year, to pay compensation in the amount of 49.46 billion rubles (approximately $621 million) for environmental damage. This is reported by Crimea.Realia.

The vessel was transporting fuel from Volgograd to the port of Kavkaz when it got into a storm and sank. One crew member died. On the same day, another fuel oil tanker, Volgoneft-239, sank nearby.

It is estimated that at least 2,400 tons of fuel oil were spilled into the sea. Waves carried the fuel to the coast of the Krasnodar Territory and temporarily occupied Crimea, which led to the death of animals and pollution of beaches. A state of emergency has been imposed in the region.

The lawsuit against the owner and charterer of Volgonefty-212 — the companies Kamatransoil and Kama Shipping — was satisfied in full. At the same time, the defendants did not admit guilt and did not appear at the hearing.

A separate trial is underway regarding compensation from the owner of Volgonefty-239 — the company Volgatransnaft, from which they are demanding approximately $455 million.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office has notified the captain of the Russian tanker of suspicion due to sea pollution with losses of over 20 billion UAH.