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EMERCOM officially confirms Amurskaya ship found on sea bottom

Divers have been examining the dry-cargo vessel, the weather in the operation area is favourable

MOSCOW, November 7 (Itar-Tass) — The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry (EMERCOM) has officially confirmed the sunken dry-cargo ship Amurskaya has been found that at the bottom of the Sea of Okhotsk in the area of the Shantar Islands.

“According to information at 09:37 MSK, the missing dry-cargo ship has been found at the bottom of the Sea of Okhotsk, as the examination by divers has shown,” the EMERCOM information department told Itar-Tass.

Divers have been examining the Amurskaya dry-cargo vessel that sank in the Sea of Okhotsk in the area of the Shantar Islands, the weather in the operation area is favourable the press service of the Russian Transport Ministry told Itar-Tass.

According to the source, at 09:00 MSK Wednesday rescuers removed from the wrecked ship an emergency buoy, a life ring and plate. “It is planned to continue the work with the penetration into the vessel’s interior. The weather conditions at the site of the operation are favourable, the wave are 0.5 metres high,” said the representative office.

The Amurskaya vessel on October 28 left the Kiran sea terminal in the Tuguro-Chumikansky district of the Khabarovsk Territory with a crew of nine members. According to investigators, the ship was carrying 700-750 tonnes of gold-bearing ore, although its maximum capacity was 611 tonnes. Experts believe that the cargo could be displaced because the ship was rolling baldy in the storm conditions, which led to her instant capsizing and sinking. The Amurskaya radio beacon transmitted a distress signal.

The motor ship is registered at the port of Nikolayevsk-on-Amur, the vessel was built in 1973.

Director General of the Nikolayevsk-on-Amur Seaport JSC Alexander Shiltsin has been charged with violation of the rules of safety of navigation and operation of maritime transport, resulting in the death of two or more persons. “He knew for certain that the loading of raw materials on the dry-cargo ship was carried out in violation of the rules of transportation of dangerous cargoes,” and that “because of the bad weather conditions the ship cannot sail,” but the head of the port “personally gave instructions to the ship’s crew to sail in the Sea of Okhotsk,” the regional Investigation Department said.