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Refrigerator sinks off Kamchatka over improper placement of cargo

There were ten crewmembers onboard the refrigerator, eight were rescued and two others remain missing

VLADIVOSTOK, September 23 (Itar-Tass) — The Vest refrigerator overturned and sank in the Sea of Okhotsk over improper placement of cargo, Russia’s state rescue coordination centre said naming such preliminary version of the shipwreck on Sunday.

Three life rafts were found in the area of distress. Eight seafarers, who were taken onboard the MRS-046 fishing vessel, were found in two of them, the third raft was empty.

There were ten crewmembers onboard the refrigerator, eight were rescued and two others remain missing.

None of those rescued got injuries, but all of them were in shock after the shipwreck and remain onboard the MRS-046 fishing vessel. The Ivan Malyakin fishing trawler is heading to the area of distress.

The Vest refrigerator sank in the Sea of Okhotsk, four miles off the port of Oktyabrsky on the western coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula, at 12:30 Moscow time. It carried 49.2 tonnes of essential goods from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to the Koryak village of Manily.

The refrigerator was registered at the port of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky flying the flag of Russia. It was owned by Kamchatka’s Vostochnaya Gavan company.

The ship’s length is 30 meters and its cargo carrying capacity is 50 tonnes. During the shipwreck wind velocity reached 11 meters per second and waves were as high as 1.5 meters.