The cargo ship Kapitan Skachkov, carrying 4750 tons of sulphur, ran aground in Volga river. The accident happened near the southern European Russian city Astrakhan. The vessel was operating on the river, but hit a mudbank and seriously stuck into the bottom. The main reason for the accident was the low level of the water into the river and ignoring the warnings for dangerous areas in Volga river. The ship was not able to re-float by itself, because of the cargo on board. If the salvage team tries to tug is back into deeper water, the ship might get a hull damage. The port authorities and ship’s crew prefered to lighter the general cargo vessel Kapitan Skachkov before start the towing operations. There are no sufficient damages of the hull and no holes into the cargo holds. The port authorities informed in press release that the ship caused no pollution into the river and there are no injured people during the accident.
The general cargo ship Kapitan Skachkov (IMO: vessel is 5,223 DWT and the gross tonnage is 3,996 GRT. The general cargo ship Kapitan Skachkov was built in the Romanian shipyard Navol Oltenita in 1968. The vessel is owned and operated by the Russian company Enisey.