Russian Ships Collide After Captain Gets Drunk

Two oil tankers collided in Russia's Irkutsk region on Tuesday after a captain became intoxicated, authorities said, causing a spillage of fuel into a local river.

Igor Kobzev, the region's governor, introduced a state of emergency in the Kirensky district after the vessels collided.

It's unclear how much fuel spilled into the Lena River, but one oil tanker that sustained significant damage was carrying 138 metric tons of gasoline, Kobzev said. The governor said that according to preliminary information, 60 to 90 tons of fuel could spill into the river—the world's 11th longest.

"At the moment, the oil slick has passed a number of settlements," Kobzev said after an operational meeting. "The situation is complicated by the fact that the river is navigable. In addition, there are settlements downstream."

The press service of the regional government said that the captain of one of the ships was intoxicated, Russia's state-run news agency Tass reported.

Kobzev also said medical tests showed that the captain was drunk.

"According to the East Siberian transport prosecutor Denis Evgenievich Avdeev, the ship Yerofey Khabarov was controlled by the captain's assistant. As shown by a medical examination, the captain, in turn, was drunk," he said.

"Of course, this fact needs a legal assessment," the governor said, adding that a criminal case has been opened into the incident, and that the ships are being inspected and its crew members are being interrogated.

In a separate incident in April, a drunk soldier crashed an S-400 air defense system into a ditch in the Russian Tula region, causing it to overturn next to a highway.

The S-400 is a Russia-designed mobile surface-to-air missile system (SAM) that's capable of engaging aircraft, UAVs and cruise missiles, and has a terminal ballistic missile defense capability, the U.S.-based think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said.

According to the CSIS, Russia began developing the S-400 in 1993. It mostly uses the 48N6 missile series, which allows it to hit aerial targets at ranges up to 250 kilometers (155 miles), and the systems are capable of intercepting ballistic missiles across a 60-kilometer radius.

Baza, a Russian Telegram channel that regularly posts information about security issues within the country, reported that the Russian soldier, 33, who crashed the air defense system failed a breathalyzer test, which showed the presence of alcohol.

"The truck fell right on top of the missiles, but fortunately the ammunition was not activated," Baza reported.

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