Ships on fire in Black Sea in Russia's territorial waters

The Federal Agency of Maritime and River Transportation has confirmed that two tankers on fire in the Black Sea are in Russia's territorial waters, the agency's press service said.

"The two tankers on fire are drifting and have already entered Russia's territorial waters, its 12-mile zone," TASS cited the press service as saying.

Earlier reports said that the two tankers carried around 4,500 tonnes of liquefied gas before the fire broke out. The fire cannot be extninguished for over two days because oil products are on fire. Both ships were held in place by one anchor, but on Wednesday they started drifting toward the shore.

The two tankers "are dragged after one anchor," the press service added noting that "this was apparently not enough to withstand the wind."

On January 21, a fire broke out onboard two vessels near the Kerch Strait off Russia’s territorial waters. According to preliminary information, the fire started when fuel was transferred from one ship to another.

One of the ships, the Candy, had a crew of 17, including nine Turkish citizens and eight Indian nationals. The other one, the Maestro, had a crew of 15, including Turkish and Indian nationals.