Rescue center ceases search for missing people in Okhotsk Sea
The coordinator of search and rescue operation MRSC Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk decided to stop active search for missing workers from the capsized and sunken jack up drilling rig ‘Kolskaya’ in the Sea of Okhotsk, Rosmorrechflot said Thursday.
The rescue center officials explained the decision was taken to “not to endanger rescue teams involved in the search and rescue because of the forecast storm and the loss of reasonable hope for saving the victims." At the same time, the ships passing by the scene continue the search.
The MRSC Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, every 4 hours updates weather forecast for passing ships in the area where the sea swells may reach 5-6 meters.
Yesterday, the Rescue Coordination Center reported that the salvage ship Atlas recovered six more bodies of workers from the Kolskaya rig, bringing the total number of recovered bodies to 17. Eleven bodies, recovered earlier, have been delivered at the port of Korsakov based on Sakhalin Island. Identification of the bodies began yesterday. Overall, 14 people of 67 crew from the jack-up rig had been rescued alive.
The jack up drilling rig Kolskaya with 67 workers on board capsized and sank off Russia's far eastern island of Sakhalin on Sunday while being towed through a winter storm from Kamchatka to Sakhalin. The Kolskaya is owned by Arktikmorneftegazrazvedka (AMNGR), a unit of state-run Zarubezhneft.