The research vessel Basalt has sunk at the pier of the machine plant here off the shore of Avacha Bay, an official in the port's supervision service has told Itar-Tass.
There was no one on board at the moment of the incident at 08:00 local time. Noone was hurt either. The causes of the sinking of the vessel, which has been moored at the pier since November 2008, are being ascertained.
The ship belongs to the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. It was leased to one of Kamachatka-based fishery companies.
The Basalt is yet another ship that sank in the Avacha Bay, which is one of the world's largest natural closed bays. It is 23 kilometres long and 12 km wide. The average depth is 18 metres. The overall water area is more than 215 square kilometres.
According to the Kamchatka Territory (KT) government data, there are 73 sunken and discarded ships in the bay with an aggregate deadweight of over 260,000 tonnes. Four ships have already sunk in the bay since the beginning of 2009, an official at the KT Ministry of Natural Resources has pointed out.