Rescue operation underway after Russian trawler sinks

(Vatican Radio) Russian officials say a Russian trawler with more than 130 people on board has sunk in the Western Pacific Ocean off Russia’s eastern coast, killing at least 54 people. Emergencies services said a massive rescue operation is underway after the fishing vessel went down near the Kamchatka Peninsula.

A maritime rescue coordination centre in the area said the massive Dalniy Vostok trawler with an international crew of 132 sank Thursday morning in the Sea of Okhotsk which lies in the Pacific, some 330 kilometers (205 miles) west of the Krutogorovsky settlement. 

So far more than 60 sailors were rescued from the freezing water, according to emergencies services. 

More than 25 fishing boats are known to help find crew members still missing in the freezing waters waters of the Sea of Okhotsk. 

Helicopter used

And the Russian Emergencies Ministry said it sent an Mi-8 helicopter with rescuers and doctors aboard to deliver medical assistance and transport rescued crew members to hospitals in the city of Magadan. 

It also set up a telephone hotline for families of the crew. Besides Russia, crew members reportedly came from Latvia, Ukraine, Burma, also known as Myanmar, and Vanuatu.

It was not yet known what exactly caused the Dalniy Vostok to sink, but the accident was likely to underscore concerns over safety on ships in the region. 

Russian officials said that drifting ice may have holed the vessel. Water reportedly flooded the engine compartment and the trawler then sank within 15 minutes.

Russian news agency Tass also quoted a senior official as saying the boat foundered while trawling a 100-tonne dragnet. Sergei Khabarov told reporters that "safety rules might have been flouted" with cargo limits being exceeded.