Three crew members have been reported missing off Russia after an explosion on a Palmali Holdings product tanker.
The 6,400-dwt General Hazi Aslanov (built 2005) was in ballast in the Sea of Azov on 24 October when the accident occurred, according to the Krasnodar region branch of the emergencies ministry, which is coordinating the rescue operation.
Six of the other 10 seafarers were taken off the ship, while four remained on board.
The crew told the TASS news agency that they were in satisfactory condition after the explosion.
Video footage showed one tank ripped open by the explosion.
Russia's Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport (Rosmorrechflot) said that the accident may have been caused by oil products vapours.
Rosmorrechflot said traffic through the Kerch Strait has not been affected, the Prime news agency reported.
Surviving crew uninjured
The vessel was heading from Kavkaz to Rostov-on-Don when the blast took place.
Russia's natural resources ministry said that it had sent a team to assess the environmental impact of the accident.
The captain was helping with the investigation into the accident.
Turkey's Palmali has been contacted for further information.
The tanker has no port state detentions dating back to its delivery.
The ship is classed by the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping, while protection and indemnity cover is provided by the West of England Shipowners club.
Russian lender Sberbank earlier this month bought 46 tankers owned by Palmali's bankrupt Russian subsidiary in an auction.
The Palmali group's owner Mubariz Mansimov was arrested in Turkey in March. Turkish prosecutors have accused him of links to an outlawed organisation headed by Fethullah Gulen, an opponent of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
In a response to the reports, Palmali said in June that "there is no evidence to support these false claims", which Mansimov "emphatically denies".
