The barge, towed from the Sakhalin port of Korsakov, was to have been loaded with heavy equipment from the Christopher Columbus by specialists of the Sakhalin basin salvage and rescue unit. The Belgian vessel had run aground on rocks 50 meters off the town of Kholmsk.
The Belgian ship was wrecked by Typhoon Songda as it swept over Sakhalin.
A representative of the crisis management center to deal with an oil leak (the punctured tanks of the Christopher Columbus released about 200 tons of fuel into the sea) said that "the barge is four kilometers north of the Belgian vessel, its nose is up on the shore and only its stern is in the water."
The press service of the regional prosecutor's office told RIA Novosti on Wednesday that according to preliminary information, the Christopher Columbus had an accident because its captain ignored a storm warning and did not put out to sea for security.
It was noted in the office that the Belgian captain had received the warning at 9:15 a.m. Sakhalin time on September 8, but, thanking the port supervisory service for attention, he did not weigh anchor and did not put out to sea.
On the evening of the same day, with wind reaching a speed of 33 meters a second and waves as high as 3-4 meters, the Christopher Columbus was torn from its anchor and after 20 minutes of drifting at 9:35 p.m. local time was thrown up onto the sandbar of the seaside boulevard used by residents of Kholmsk as a promenade.
As a result, 80 cubic meters of Diesel fuel and 120 tons of fuel oil leaked into the sea from holes in two tanks on the starboard and the engine compartment.
A criminal case was opened under the article "pollution of the sea." Thirty-five people applied to Kholmsk hospitals for help and were diagnosed as cases of "slight poisoning."
Seven expert examinations have been scheduled under the case, including a probe into the effect of the oil products on animals and their habitat.
The final sum of damage is being calculated by nature management bodies.
