Rescuers have found the sunken M/V Amurskaya, which was carrying a cargo of gold ore and disappeared in the Okhotsk Sea ten days ago, the Russian Ministry of Transportation said.
The vessel was found in the coordinates Lat.-54.57.680 N, Long. - 135.51.643 E, laying on her portside.
The search-and-rescue team divers found the vessel had no life rafts on starboard with the ladder prepared for evacuation of the crew. The hold hatch cover No. 2 was nearly open, the cargo was on the deck. There have been no bodies of the crew found as yet, but the divers have not searched cabins.
The preliminary inspection shows that the crew attempted an emergency evacuation. Further examination of the vessel would be unreasonable, the report said.
The Maritime Rescue Coordination Center in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk is planning to send SAR vessels and aircrafts to scour new areas for possible survivors. The search could be resumed in early morning of November 8th.
On October 28, the M/V Amurskaya laden with 700 or 750 tons of gold ore issued a distress call in the area of Shantarsky islands in the Khabarovsk region. An emergency beacon of the vessel was sending signals of distress. There were nine or eleven crew members, all Russian nationals, on board the ship. The ship departed from the port Kiran having no permission and approvals from the control services. The cargo exceeded the capacity of the vessel, which could carry only 611 tons. Besides, the investigators found that the vessels was not designed for the transportation of bulk cargoes and did not get permission to transport raw materials.