Russian trade vessel in distress near Kamchatka Peninsula

A Russian trade vessel has got in distress in the Sea of Okhotsk, west of the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia's Far East. The local Emergency Ministry has said there are 13 people on board.

A cable caught in the vessel's propeller on Monday, and now the ship is slowly drifting about 10 miles off the western coast of Kamchatka.

The spokesman from the local Marine Rescue Centre, Aleksandr Saigashkin, said that rescue ships and an aircraft were working to evacuate the sailors.

“We last contacted the Pashkovsky vessel at 4 p.m. local time. Its captain, Mr. Balabin, reported that the rescue vessel ”Snezhny“ has successfully approached their fishing boat and is now ready to send a tow truck. To save the boat and its sailors we need to either protect the vessel from high waves, wind and further drifting or evacuate people onto the ”Snezhny“ rescue vessel,” he explained.