A fishing boat sank in the Barents Sea with 19 people on board

A fishing boat sank near Novaya Zemlya in the Arkhangelsk region. There were 19 people on board, two were rescued. TASS reports this with reference to the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations.

According to the department, the ship sank due to icing. The search for 17 missing people is currently underway.

“Currently, five vessels have been sent to search for the crew. One of them picked up two living sailors, they were in wetsuits, there was no contact with the others,” said the agency’s source in the emergency services.

TASS's interlocutor said that two of the rescued were Russian citizens. According to him, the remaining crew members, according to preliminary information, are also Russian citizens. As the agency's interlocutor noted , due to bad weather, aviation cannot be used to search for the crew.

An informed Interfax source said that the owner of the vessel is a private person. He noted that the crew issued several distress signals after the crash - in automatic and manual modes. According to his information, the ship sank in the Barents Sea, 556 kilometers from Murmansk.

The Murmansk Transport Prosecutor's Office has begun an investigation. Investigators opened a criminal case for violation of traffic safety rules and operation of maritime and water transport. RIA Novosti writes about this with reference to the press service of the Arkhangelsk Investigation Department for Transport of the North-Western Investigative Directorate for Transport of the TFR.