RUSSIA and Ukraine are facing environmental catastrophe after a tanker carrying 4000 tonnes of oil split in half in heavy seas off the Crimean peninsula.

The Russian ship broke up in a storm and high waves on Sunday near the port of Kavkaz in the narrow Kerch Strait south of the Sea of Azov.

Four freighters - three carrying sulfur and one scrap metal - also sank near the Russian port about 1250 kilometres south of Moscow, and several other ships ran aground. Russia Today reported two sailors had died and 23 were missing. Operations to rescue the crews of the stranded ships had begun, officials said.

The oil tanker, the Volganeft-139, which had been loaded with about 4000 tonnes of fuel oil, was stranded about three miles from shore. Stormy weather was preventing emergency workers from collecting the spilt oil. At least 1300 tonnes had leaked into the sea, officials said.

"There is serious concern that the spill will continue," Oleg Mitvol, the head of Russia's environmental safety watchdog, told Vesti 24 TV. "The wind is now blowing in the direction of Ukraine's coast, so it is our common problem. This problem may take a few years to solve. This is a very serious environmental disaster."

Other environmentalists said the region's delicate ecosystem could take 10 years to recover.

Vladimir Sliviak, of the Russian environmental group Ecodefence, said that because of the heavy storms the oil was likely to sink, and the toxicity would affect fish, birds and sea mammals.

He said Russian authorities were unlikely to clean up the sea effectively. "More oil has been spilled into the sea than the 1000 tonnes officially reported. Normally in Russia there is a tradition by officials of underestimating the consequences."

Guardian News & Media