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Captain Kuznetsov heaves off on its own and sails to Arkhangelsk

The Captain Kuznetsov freight ship which ran aground in the White Sea has heaved away on its own and moved to Arkhangelsk

MOSCOW, November 16 (Itar-Tass) -- The Captain Kuznetsov freight ship which ran aground in the White Sea has heaved away on its own and moved to Arkhangelsk, the press service of the Russian Transport Ministry told Itar-Tass.

The ship managed to re-start its engine and heave away on its own; then it moved in the direction of the Arkhangelsk sea port, the press service said. There are eleven people on board.

The Dixon icebreaker accompanied the ship on the way to the port, the head department of the Arkhangelsk branch of the Emergencies Ministry told Itar-Tass.

All the crewmen are in good health and need no assistance. The ship’s crew managed to ignite the ship's engine and sail off on its own, the same source said.

The Arkhangelsk sea rescue sub-center said it was not exactly known what had happened on board the Captain Kuznetsov. Radio communication with the ship was not resumed yet, it said. All the crewmen who were on board the Captain Kuznetsov ship which ran aground in the White Sea were found alive.

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.

A search helicopter of the Northern Fleet Navy spotted the ship at 11. 15 a.m. Moscow time Wednesday. The ship was found in the narrow entrance to the White Sea 60 kilometers east of Cape Orlov-Tersky Tonky and 104 kilometers away from the area from where the ship sent its last radio signal. The sea was rough out there as the sea storm continued. Rescuers managed to land on deck of the ship from the 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.