Disaster in Black Sea

The Black Sea region suffered its worst environmental disaster in years after an oil tanker sank in stormy weather.
The bodies of five seamen have been recovered and up to 18 are still missing after the storm struck 10 ships in this area. Crewmen on the Russian oil tanker, the Volganeft-139, were rescued. It split in two and spilled at least 1,300 tonnes of oil. The severe weather prevented emergency workers from collecting the oil, which authorities said was sinking to the seabed.
People watch a ship thrown on to the rocks by a fierce storm in the Kerch Strait, linking the Black and Azov Seas. Seventeen ships were reported to be in trouble in the region. The likely effects of the spill were not immediately clear. A spill over 700 tonnes is considered large, but the biggest ones run into the tens or even hundreds of thousands.
The polluted area is a home to porpoises and is at the heart of the migration route from central Siberia into the Black Sea of red-throated and black-throated Siberian divers. Read the rest here.