One sailor killed, 14 missing after Russian ship sinks in Sea of Japan

One Russian sailor was found dead and three others were rescued on Tuesday after a Russian ship with an 18-member crew sank in the Sea of Japan, the Interfax news agency reported.

The fate of the other 14 sailors remained unknown on Tuesday, one day after the shipwreck, the report said, quoting the Vladivostok coordinating rescue center.

One of the three rescued was found on a raft and the other two were pulled out from the water, according to the report.

Sinegorye, with a lifting capacity of 3,300 tons, signaled SOS at 1:40 p.m. local time (0240 GMT) on Monday after seawater flooded in.

During the last radio contact, the crew reported that the ship had tilted almost 20 degrees to the starboard side. Radio contact with Sinegorye in distress in the Sea of Japan was lost when the ship was still 145 km off the nearest seaport.

With no response from the ship, rescuers presumed the crew had abandoned the ship. A South Korean patrol ship, a Panamanian ship, and an Israeli freight ship rushed to the emergency area.

A heavy storm was reported in the emergency area on Monday, with winds blowing at nearly 30 meters per second and sea waves raging at five meters high.

The international rescue effort was still ongoing and a Be-200 amphibious plane has flown to the disaster area, the report said.

Source: Xinhua