14 dead as fire rages on Black Sea ships

Fourteen crew died and another 10 were missing and presumed dead in a fire that broke out on two ships while they were transferring fuel in the Black Sea, TASS news agency cited a source in Russia's emergency services as saying on Tuesday.

Russia's Transport Ministry had said earlier that 10 crew members were found dead.

The vessels, which caught fire on Monday have the same names as two Tanzania-flagged ships, the Maestro and Venice, which last year were included on a US sanctions advisory as delivering fuel to Syria.

The ships had crews of nationals from India and Turkey.

India said it was in touch with the Russian authorities.

"Our embassy in Moscow is in constant touch with the concerned Russian agencies to get more information on Indian nationals affected in the incident and to extend necessary assistance," the Indian Foreign Ministry said.

Twelve people were rescued from the burning vessels but there was little hope of finding any more survivors, said Alexei Kravchenko, spokesman for Russia's Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport. The focus had switched from a rescue operation to a search for bodies, he added.

The spokesman said the vessels, which had a combined crew of 32, were still on fire and no attempts were being made to put out the blaze because of rough sea conditions.

Kravchenko added that as of Tuesday morning, the fire was continuing. "There's an endless amount of fuel there," he said.

On Nov 20, the United States added nine Russian and Iranian individuals and companies on its sanctions list for participating in the shipment of petroleum to Syria.

It also issued an advisory warning of possible sanctions for any entities involved in such shipments. It listed 35 ships, including the Maestro and Venice, as having delivered oil to Syria between 2016 and 2018.

Reuters reported in December that the Maestro and Venice continued operations after the US announcement.

The Kerch Strait, between Crimea and southern Russia, connects both Russian and Ukrainian ports in the Azov Sea to the Black Sea.

Relations between Kiev and Moscow have been deteriorating since early 2014 over their different stances on developments in Crimea and eastern Ukraine.

In November, Russia detained three Ukrainian navy vessels and their crews in the vicinity of the strait.

In September, Ukraine said it will end on April 1 the key cooperation agreement between the countries.

Reuters, Xinhua and AFP contributed to this story.

(China Daily 01/23/2019 page12)