Dozens die as Russian trawler sinks

A Russian freezer trawler with an international crew of 132 sank Thursday morning in the freezing Sea of Okhotsk off of the Kamchatka Peninsula and at least 50 crew members died, according to Russia’s Emergency Ministry.

Fifteen people are missing. Water temperature at the scene was near 32 degrees, and many of those rescued were suffering hypothermia, the ministry said.

More than 25 fishing boats in the area helped to rescue the crew members, the emergency services said in a statement on their website.

"The rescue operation is going on, we are still looking for 15 people," Viktor Klepikov, coordinating captain of the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky maritime rescue coordination centre, told Reuters news agency.

"At this time we do not know what might have caused the tragedy."

The Interfax news agency said drifting ice in the chilly Pacific waters may have played a role.

Water flooded the engine compartment and the trawler sank within 15 minutes, according to Russian emergency services.

But Tass quoted a deputy head of the Kamchatka region as saying the crew might have violated safety rules by exceeding the capacity of cargo storage.

"According to preliminary information, the shipwreck occurred while hauling a 100-ton fishing seine," said Sergei Khabarov according to Tass.

The ship did not send out a distress call before sinking, according to local media.

The Russian Emergencies Ministry 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, the ministry said on its website. It also set up a telephone hotline for families of the crew, the ministry said.

Besides Russia, Interfax said crew members came from Latvia, Ukraine, Myanmar and Vanuatu.

The trawler sank 205 miles west of Krutogorovsky settlement in the Kamchatka region and about 155 miles south of the city of Magadan. The trawler’s home port was Nevelsk, in Russia’s Sakhalin region. The vessel was owned by Magellan LLC.

Russia has a poor air, road and water safety record, with negligence and corruption often the cause of accidents. In 2011, an aging, overcrowded Volga River tourist boat sank, killing nearly 130 people in one of the worst post-Soviet ship disasters.

Wire services