All news

SKorea ship on fire in Bering Sea off Chukotka, crew rescued

The fate of the chief mate was unknown at first but later on it turned out that he died while trying to put out the fire

PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, November 17 (Itar-Tass) — The South Korean ship Oriental Angel is on fire in the Bering Sea near the shores of the Chukotka Peninsula. Eighty-nine crewmembers have been rescued.

The fate of the chief mate was unknown at first but later on it turned out that he died while trying to put out the fire, an official at the Kamchatka sea rescue coordinating subcenter (KSRCS) told Itar-Tass on Thursday.

A message about the fire aboard the ship reached KSRCS at 04:40, Kamchatka time, on Thursday. The ship began moving towards the shore in the direction of Beringovsky Township in the Anadyr District of Chukotka. The crew tried to put out the fire on their own without issuing a distress signal. The seamen failed in their efforts to extinguish the blaze aboard and abandoned the burning ship on rescue rafts.

The seamen were taken on board by ships that happened to be in the area of the incident. The ships intend to bring them to Anadyr area. An exact place where the evacuees will be brought is unknown so far. Their life is now out of danger.

The stricken ship lies at anchor in the area of Cape Navarin in the Bering Sea. The situation is being monitored by a trawler which is near the scene of the incident. There is storm weather in the area.