5 more rescued after Russian fishing vessel capsizes in Sea of Japan

USPA News - Five more sailors were rescued on early Monday morning after a Russian fishing vessel capsized off the coast of Russia over the weekend, emergency officials said. Eight other sailors were earlier said to have died while seven more remain missing.

The Russian crab boat `Shans-101` was carrying 30 crew members when it capsized Sunday afternoon in the Sea of Japan off the coast of Russia`s Primorye Territory. Ten crew members were rescued that evening after a passing freighter found them in a lifeboat, and five more survivors - including the ship`s captain - were found in a second lifeboat on Monday. The first lifeboat was initially carrying eighteen of the crew members but eight of them were thrown overboard after they succumbed to hypothermia, the survivors told authorities after they were taken to the port town of Kholmsk. Two of the survivors are suffering from light frostbite. Russia`s Investigative Committee said 19 of the crew members are Russians while the remaining 11 crew members are citizens of Indonesia. Searches were continuing on Monday to find the seven missing crew members and to recover the bodies of the eight victims who were thrown overboard. Russia`s Emergencies Ministry said more than 3,000 square miles had been covered during search-and-rescue operations as of Monday afternoon. The operations were suspended later on Monday due to nightfall, but searches are expected to resume at first light on Tuesday morning. Survivors have told investigators that the boat capsized when it was hit by a large wave just as it was changing course. Russia`s Investigative Committee said it had launched a criminal investigation, which is standard procedure, to determine whether traffic safety rules were violated and whether negligence led to the accident. "Investigators are looking into the following versions of the accidents: violation of sea navigation rules by crew and technical failure of the ship," a committee spokesperson said on Monday. They said searchers were underway at the offices of the ship`s owner in the city of Vladivostok.