ST. PETERSBURG, October 4 - RAPSI. The Thirteenth Commercial Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling granting the recovery of $16.15 million in damages arising from an oil spill in the Kerch Strait, the Supreme Commercial Court's website reports.

In so ruling, the court held against the appeal of the International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund 1992, which, along with the insurance company Ingosstrakh and the oil shipping company Volgotanker, were defendants in the case.

The fund was contesting the St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region Commercial Court's June 19 ruling.

Dozens of vessels crashed in the strait during a storm on November 11, 2007. Over 1,200 tons of fuel oil was spilled into the sea from the Russian oil tanker Volgoneft-139.

The St. Petersburg Commercial Court initially convened the trial in 2008. In August 2010, it opened separate proceedings over a Federal Service for the Oversight of Natural Resources' claim. The service claimed 6 billion rubles ($192.6 million) in compensation for environmental damage as a result of the oil spill.

Three courts held against the claims from September 2010 to April 2011, stating that the damage was offset by the Krasnodar Civil Defense and Emergency Department, the Kerch commercial seaport, the Novorossiysk Emergency and Rescue Department, and the company BashVolgotanker.