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Cyclone on Sakhalin causes closure of ferry traffic in Sea of Japan

Sakhalin’s western coast does not have a single bay where the four ferryboats could take hiding
Photo EPA/ITAR-TASS
Photo EPA/ITAR-TASS

VLADIVOSTOK, October 23 (Itar-Tass) – Cyclone that raged in the Primorsky /Maritime/ territory in Russia’s continental Far East has drifted across the northern sector of the Sea of Japan and caused a heavy storm in the Tartary Strait, forcing a suspension of operations of railway ferries between the ports Khomsk on the island of Sakhalin and Vanino on the continent.

According to weather monitoring services, sea waves in the strait were rising four to five meters high and the ferryboats, each of them designed to carry 26 railway coaches and a hundred passengers, were hiding in safe places along the continental shore of the strait, the Sakhalin Shipping Line officials said.

Sakhalin’s western coast does not have a single bay where the four ferryboats could take hiding.

Each ferry has a length of 127 meters. Given their size, they can finding safe haven only in broad and deep bays, on the shores of which the Vanino and Sovietskaya Gavan ports are located.

A severe storm is expected in the area of the Southern Kurile islands, with the gale-like wind to reach 30 meters per second,

A rise of seawaters near the island of Kunashir may bring about inundation of roads in the coastal area. Local residents have been warned of the risks of approaching the shores.