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Captain Kuznetsov's crew found alive

A team of rescuers landed on deck of the freight ship from a helicopter

MOSCOW, November 16 (Itar-Tass) — All the eleven crewmen who were on board the Captain Kuznetsov ship which ran aground in the White Sea have been found alive. Previous reports about a passenger on board have not been confirmed.

A team of rescuers landed on deck of the freight ship from a helicopter, the press service of the Russian Transport Ministry said. There were eleven people on board, it confirmed. The ship’s crew will be evacuated.

The Dixon icebreaker is to reach the ship in distress in a short while.

The Captain Kuznetsov was lost in Russia’s northern White Sea when the ship was heading for the port of Arkhangelsk to stay there for the winter. The ship lost on Tuesday night was caught in a heavy sea storm in the narrow entrance to the White Sea. The last radio contact with the ship was at 02:00 a.m. Tuesday.

On Wednesday the ship was spotted by a search helicopter.

The Captain Kuznetsov, with the home port in St. Petersburg, is owned by the North-Western River Shipping Company.

The ship built in 1984 is 86.7 meters long, 12 meters wide and has a freight capacity of 1.45 thousand tons.