“There’s a bow and there are two ships , torn in half,”
— more footage from the site of the wreck of Russian tankers in the Kerch Strait.
The Russian Emergencies Ministry officially confirmed that the Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239 are sinking. An MI-8 helicopter has been dispatched to the scene. There are 13 people and fuel oil on board the Volgoneft-212, and 14 people and oil products on board the Volgoneft-239.
“More than 50 specialists and 11 pieces of equipment are already involved in eliminating the consequences. Further information is being clarified,” the Ministry of Emergency Situations reports.
Guess the rust holding one together finally gave way.
Mash reported that both tankers were built around 50 years ago and were hastily converted in the 1990s from full-fledged tankers to “river-sea” class vessels.
The rushed modifications included cutting the ships in half, discarding the center, and welding the bow and stern together, leaving a large seam that failed under the impact of powerful waves. This seam ultimately split apart, contributing to the vessels’ sinking.
if only they had flextape.
The excerpt adarza commented likely explains it somewhat. Ships made shorter by cutting a section of the middle out & rejoining the ends. They probably both had the same modification around the same time, so reached a point of similar wear and (literal) tear at the same time. I’ll bet they forgot about their history and neglected to perform the more thorough integrity checks they required because of it.
