Sink the case

Criminal cases on the facts of more frequent man-made disasters do not answer the main questions about their true causes and perpetrators

December 18 marks three years since the crash of the Kolskaya drilling platform in the Sea of Okhotsk. As a result of the disaster, 53 people died or were declared dead. Today, their relatives cannot even find out at what stage the investigation is and when and in what form this case will be brought to court.

After repair work in Murmansk, the Kolskaya platform (its operation began even under Soviet rule) was sent as cargo along the southern route to Kamchatka, but on the way it had to be repaired again, and instead of the planned two months, it reached the drilling site in four. They started work on the western shelf of Kamchatka by order of OAO Gazflot (a Gazprom subsidiary established in 1994) in early September. Even then it was clear that the drilling work would not be completed until October 15, when, under the terms of this zone, the towing of such structures is allowed. Drilling could be continued in winter, but in spring the platform would have been covered with ice, so the issue of towing was a foregone conclusion.

On December 11, "Kolskaya" with three "legs" sticking up, resembling a crane frame, set off across the entire Sea of Okhotsk to Sakhalin: from where it was more convenient to drag it to the shores of Vietnam to work under a new contract. Instead of three tugs (the only way they could ensure the maneuverability of this structure during a storm), two were towing, including an icebreaker not intended for this purpose. A little earlier, the Gazflot ships removed their personnel from Kolskaya, but refused to take 67 “strangers”: drillers who had done their part of the work and were on the staff of the Murmansk OJSC Arktikmorneftegazrazvedka (AMNGR), and support personnel from Sakhalin, including women - cook.

Both commercial structures saved on everything: on repairs, evacuation of people, and even on the SOS signal, which was filed many hours late, after two days of a storm, when the platform had already given a strong roll. We describe these facts dryly, but anyone can imagine the horror of people who died for two days, either losing or regaining hope, and drowned in a wave up to 5 meters high, air temperature -7 and water +1 degree. None of the 14 rescued publicly talks about the details of the disaster - perhaps as a result of what they experienced, and perhaps even under the threat of losing their jobs.

The end of the investigation (it is being conducted by the Far Eastern Investigation Department for Transport of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation in Khabarovsk) was announced in June 2013, a year later the relatives of the victims got the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the case materials. They were outraged by the fact that the investigation considers two dead captains guilty of the deaths of people, and of those who made the decision on the shore, a year and a half ago, charges were brought against two leaders of OJSC AMNGR, but of the second row. The decision to start late drilling, which already predetermined the fate of Kolskaya in September, was made by the first persons of the AMNGR in agreement with Gazflot. In November, when the fate of the platform hung in the balance (literally: a broken towing cable), the general director of the OJSC and his deputy made their own "safety maneuver": one went on a business trip, and the other went on vacation.

The investigation did not at all consider the issue of the fault of the officials of the “daughter” of Gazprom, who actually refused to remove people from the platform. Contrary to initial promises, no separate case was opened on the fact of the too late start and clumsy conduct of the rescue operation.

Yuriy Kostanov, a lawyer for the group of victims (formerly a prosecutor with extensive experience), points out that the technical and operational expertise of the Kolskaya platform, carried out by the decision of the investigator, does not answer a single question related to navigation, including: how admissible from the point of view of the existing rules was the towing itself and the chosen route. In addition, the lawyer found procedural "technical" flaws during the appointment and conduct of the examination, which turn it into inadmissible evidence. If everything is done somehow somehow in the sphere of justice, then this is another common catastrophe for the whole country.

Next week, the Sayanogorsk District Court in Khakassia will announce the verdict in the case of the disaster at the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP, more than 5 years have passed since the disaster. According to experts, the examination in this case also did not answer the question of what caused the accident of the 2nd power unit, and the persons who will, without a doubt, be convicted, are also appointed "switchmen" rather than the perpetrators. mass death of people.

The serial man-made disasters that have plagued Russia lately are due to two decisive factors: the technical and obsolescence of equipment and the disappearance of the specialists servicing it, multiplied by the “savings”. The investigation, and after it the court, rely on such examinations that point to the “correct” perpetrators, completely ignoring the “economy”, that is, the greed of merchants who squeeze profits out of complex and obsolete technical structures.

What, after all, is the fate of the criminal case on the death of people three years after the Kola disaster? To paraphrase: "It drowned" ...