A new phase of the oil cleaning operation begins in the Kerch Strait on Wednesday, Itar-Tass reports. In the morning, divers from the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry will inspect the sunken vessels, including the bulk carriers with sulphur, in order to appraise salvage options.
About 1,000 students from Krasnodar Territory colleges will join the efforts to clean the coastline of the oil spill.
Meteorologists promised stable weather with wind velocities of up to 10 meters per second, which the rescue services might use to advantage.
By late Tuesday, rescue vessels collected 710 tonnes of petroleum products that leaked into the sea as a result of the Volganeft-139 oil tanker shipwreck and the Volganeft-123 tanker incident.
A total of 420 tonnes of spilt oil were collected on the Chushka sand bar, and 290 tonnes of fuel oil on the Tuzla sand bar. One hundred and sixty tonnes of fuel oil were scooped on November 12.
According to the Emergency Situations Ministry, one quarter of the petroleum products spilt into the Kerch Strait has been collected.
Experts reckon some 5,000 tonnes of oil have leaked.
Meanwhile, the search for five sailors from the sunken bulk carrier Nakhichevan continues. it involves Emergency Situations Ministry units, border troops and brigades of marines.
A commission to investigate the cause of the incident in the Kerch Strait has been set up.
Prim Minister Viktor Zubkov told reporters that "departments have been ordered to take urgent measures to restore order here."