VLADIVOSTOK, November 12. /TASS/. The Nayada company, which owns the Zaliv America tanker, where an explosion in the Primorsky Region’s Nakhodka Bay led to the deaths of two people and left one missing, paid out 1 million rubles ($15,600) to each family, the shipowner told TASS on Tuesday.

As promised the vessel’s owner performed its obligations. One million rubles were transferred to each bereaved family and to the family of the missing sailor. Today, the search for him continues. A tug boat has been patrolling the port’s water surface since the morning," the company representatives said.

He added that a meeting would be held in the evening, where a decision will be made to continue or stop the search.

On the morning of November 2, the maritime rescue and coordination center in Vladivostok received a report of an explosion onboard a tanker that was in Nakhodka Bay near the Astafyev Cape. According to investigators, a gas-air mixture exploded. Two of the 12 crewmembers were killed. They were identified as the first mate and a sailor. Their bodies were retrieved from water, and a search operation for one more sailor is in place.

Due to the Russian tanker explosion, a criminal case was launched under Part 3 Section 263 of the Russian Criminal Code ("Violation of rules for the safe operation and movement of sea transport which caused the death of two or more people out of negligence").