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Amphibious airplane spots oil stains in bulker search area in Sea of Okhotsk

From the start of the search-and-rescue operation over 8,000 square kilometres of sea area have been searched through
Photo ITAR-TASS
Photo ITAR-TASS

KHABAROVSK, November 4 (Itar-Tass) —— An amphibious airplane Be-200 of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations has spotted the oil stains on the water in the Sea of Okhotsk, where the search continues for the bulk carrier Amurskaya, which went missing on October 28. The coordinates of the oil stains were transmitted to the rescue ship Rubin, which was sailing nearby and sailed to the place, where the oil stains were spotted, the Far Eastern regional emergency situation centre told Itar-Tass on Sunday.The echo depth sounder detected that some object is lying at the depth of 25 metres. The divers are getting ready to examine it.
From the start of the search-and-rescue operation over 8,000 square kilometres of sea area have been searched through. No traces of the bulk carrier were found, the fate of the crew remains unclear.
It was found that the bulk carrier set out from Kiran in the Tuguro-Chumikansky district in the Khabarovsk Territory a week ago amid a storm, with high winds of over 17 metres per second and high waves of three metres. The bulk carrier was carrying 700-750 tonnes of gold-bearing ore, though the maximum permissible load is 611 tonnes. The vessel was not designed for the transportation of bulky cargoes. The experts believe that the bulky cargoes could have moved amid a heavy pitching in a stormy weather that resulted in the immediate capsizing and sinking of the ship. The crew could even have not had enough time to give the May Day signals, but the signals from the emergency radio beacon was fixed, as the device sets off automatically in the water.
The crew went on a voyage without a permit of the relevant services and did not have the right to traffic bulky cargoes.
The Nikolayevsk-on-Amur seaport is a shipowner of the bulky carrier Amurskaya.