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Over 150 t of oil on board damaged ship left near Kuril island

The refrigerator flying the flag of Russia is registered in the port of Vladivostok

VLADIVOSTOK, January 4 (Itar-Tass) — On board the transport refrigerator Irina left by the crew near the Kuriles' Kunashir Island are 105 tonnes of fuel oil, 400 tonnes of diesel fuel, six tonnes of lubricant oil and also 560 tonnes of frozen fish, the Russian state sea rescue coordination centre reports.

The transport ship with a considerable tilt to the stern is left anchored near Kunashir Island.

The Irina was on the way from a fishing area in the Sea of Okhotsk to Vladivostok when it was caught in a storm. When turning, the vessel touched the ground with its propeller. Its engine stalled, and water got into the engine room. The wind tilted the refrigerator to have a three-ten-degree list.

The captain, Boris Klipak, decided to evacuate the crew -- 19 people, Russian citizens. Another transport refrigerator, the Tatarstan, which was about 1.5 km away, came to rescue the crew. The Tatarstan approached the Irina and took aboard all the crewmembers from the damaged vessel. Nobody was hurt. At present, the Tatarstan with the rescued people aboard lies out near the port of Yuzhno-Kurilsk.

The rescue vessel Atlas has left the Sakhalin port of Korsakov for the site where the damaged refrigerator is left. The Atlas must ensure environment safety. The vessel is expected to come to Kunashir Island on January 5, in the first half of the day. The rescue vessel Suvorovets is also sent there to tow the refrigerator to Vladivostok. The Suvorovets is expected to arrive there on the night to Thursday.

It snows with a wind of 20-22 metres a second from the west, and waves are two-three metres high at the site.

The refrigerator flying the flag of Russia is registered in the port of Vladivostok. The length is 93 metres. The tonnage is 5,801 t. The owner is the Brig Star Shipping company.

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