Asia-Pacific

Official: Russian ship with 30 crew 'could sink'

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-01-22 17:21
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MOSCOW: A Russian emergency official says a cargo ship with a 30-strong crew has iced over and is stranded in the Sea of Okhotsk with the risk of sinking.

An emergency spokesman on Russia's Far Eastern Sakhalin Island says the captain of the Smolninsky refrigerated cargo vessel sent a distress signal early Friday.

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Spokesman Alexander Ivelsky says poor weather in the Sea of Okhotsk, which separates the Kamchatka peninsula and mainland Russia, prevents the air rescue of the all-Russian crew.

Ivelsky said strong winds threaten to topple the frozen freighter.

He says nearby ships have been instructed to set course for the Smolninsky.
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