Ukraine’s MOE’s helicopter has evacuated from the ice the crew of 12 from stricken Avak-1 (Panama-flag) to Simferopol, the rescue agency said.
This morning, the M/V Avak-1 had sustained a breach on its hull while en route Kerch-Rostov-on-Don and remained dead in the water of the Sea of Azov, near Berdyansk in Zaporizhia region.
The rescue operation was complicated by weather conditions: the temperature at the shipwreck site is 19 Cº with wind gusting up to 39 mph, the Ministry of Emergencies said, adding that rescue team includes a Mariupol Port’s ice-breaker and the Russian icebreaker "Kapitan Demidov" (the port of Taman), a Mi-8 helicopter and ACV "Mars-700."