MOSCOW (AP) — An estimated 3,700 tons of low-grade fuel oil had spilled into the Kerch Strait after two Russian ships were seriously damaged by stormy weather, Russian state media reported Monday.
The two ships, the Volgoneft 239 and the Volgoneft 212, were transporting roughly 9,200 tons of mazut, a heavy, low-quality oil product. Social media footage from the scene showed a black liquid rising among the waves.
Preliminary estimates say that 3,700 tons of mazut leaked into the sea, Russian state news outlet RIA Novosti reported, citing an unnamed source. In a statement, the leader of Russia’s nearby Krasnodar region, Gov. Veniamin Kondratev, said that the oil had not yet reached the shore.
An emergency rescue operation was launched Sunday after the Volgoneft-212 tanker ran aground and had its bow torn away in storm conditions, Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry said. One sailor in the 13-man crew died, officials said.
A second tanker, the Volgoneft-239, was also left damaged and adrift with 14 crewmembers on board. It later ran aground 80 meters from shore, close to the port of Taman in Russia’s Krasnodar region, from where the sailors were later rescued.
Russian officials confirmed the oil spill Sunday, but said that experts were still working to assess its full impact and extent.
In a statement, Greenpeace Ukraine said they will monitor the situation. The charity has had no presence in Russia since 2023, when it was designated as an “undesirable organization” by the Russian government.
“Any oil or petrochemical spill in these waters has the potential to be serious,” said Dr. Paul Johnston, head of Greenpeace Research Laboratories, based at the University of Exeter in the U.K.)
“It is likely to be driven by prevailing wind and currents and in the current weather conditions (it) is likely to be extremely difficult to contain. If it is driven ashore, then it will cause fouling of the shoreline which will be extremely difficult to clean up.”
The Kerch Strait separates the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula from Russia and is an important global shipping route, providing passage from the Sea of Azov to the Black Sea.
It has also been a key point of conflict between Russia and Ukraine after Moscow annexed the peninsula from Ukraine in 2014. In 2016, Ukraine took Moscow to the Permanent Court of Arbitration, where it accused Russia of trying to seize control of the area illegally. In 2021, Russia closed the strait for several months.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to the head of the office of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, described the oil spill as a “large-scale environmental disaster” of the war and called for additional sanctions on Russian tankers.
“The accidents on two rusty vessels in the Kerch Strait resulted in another large-scale environmental disaster of our war. Thousands of tons of fuel oil spilled from the Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239, causing tragic damage to the natural systems of the Azov and Black Seas,” he wrote in a post on X Monday.
This photo taken from a video released by the Russian Southern Transport Prosecutor's Office, shows a Volgoneft-212 tanker wrecked by a storm in the Kerch Strait, Russia, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. (The Russian Southern Transport Prosecutor's Office via AP)
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is heading toward the finish of a strong, potentially perfect week as U.S. stocks on Friday drift close to the all-time high they set just a few months earlier, though it may feel like an economic era ago.
The S&P 500 was up 0.1% in early trading and potentially on track for a fifth straight gain. It’s heading for a 4.6% rise for the week, which would be its third big winning week in the last four, as hopes build that President Donald Trump will lower his tariffs against other countries after reaching trade deals with them. Such hopes have driven the S&P 500 back within 3.6% of its record set in February, after the index at the heart of many 401(k) accounts briefly dropped roughly 20% below the mark last month.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 52 points, or 0.1%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.2% higher.
Trump’s trade war had sent financial markets reeling worldwide because of twin dangers. On one hand, tariffs could slow the economy and drive it into a recession. On the other, it could push inflation higher. A couple better-than-expected reports on inflation this past week helped soothe some those second worries.
But all the Trump’s on-and-off rollout of tariffs could by itself damage the economy by creating so much uncertainty that it causes U.S. households and businesses to freeze their spending and long-term plans. A report coming later in the morning will offer the latest snapshot of sentiment among U.S. consumers, which has been souring sharply because of tariffs.
In the meantime, Treasury yields eased in the bond market following this week’s better-than-expected signals on inflation, which could give the Federal Reserve more leeway to cut interest rates later this year if high tariffs drag down the U.S. economy.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.39% from 4.45% late Thursday and from more than 4.50% the day before that. Lower bond yields can encourage investors to pay higher prices for stocks and other investments.
On Wall Street, Charter Communications rose 1.3% after it said it agreed to merge with Cox Communications in a deal that would combine two of the country’s largest cable companies. The resulting company will change its name to Cox Communications and keep Charter’s headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut.
Novo Nordisk’s stock that trades in the United States fell 1.8% after the Danish company behind the Wegovy drug for weight loss said that Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen will step down as CEO and that the board is looking for his successor. The company cited “recent market challenges” and how the stock has been performing recently.
In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed amid mostly modest movements across Europe and Asia.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 inched down by less than 0.1% after the government reported that Japan’s economy contracted at a faster rate than expected in the first quarter of the year.
AP Writers Jiang Junzhe and Matt Ott contributed.
Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top center, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top center, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
A currency trader talks on the phone near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Trader Edward Curran works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Trader Jonathan Corpina works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Trader William Lawrence works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Traders Jonathan Mueller, right, and Michael Capolino work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
