Society

18:18, 19.11.2007 | Far East Russia

Twenty-two sailors have been rescued from a freight ship that sank in the Sea of Japan on Sunday, a spokeswoman for Russia's regional emergencies department said.

The timber freighter Kasper-1, sailing under the flag of Saint Vincent and Grenadines, was en route from the Russian Far Eastern port of Nakhodka to China when it sank in a storm 180 miles south of the port. Its Russian crew of 36 boarded four life rafts, the ministry earlier said.
"Twelve sailors that have been rescued are on board the Russian ship Verona and ten people are aboard a British vessel," Olga Alkina said.
The spokeswoman said four vessels are currently in the area of the rescue operation, adding that three inflatable rafts had been discovered and efforts were under way to search for the fourth raft.