The spill, covering an area of roughly 20,000 square meters, is floating north toward Russia's coast at a speed of 0.6 mph, a spokesman said.
The crew of the Priozerny trawler, which was allegedly poaching crabs in the Sea of Okhotsk in Russia's Far East, scuttled the vessel Tuesday by opening hatches and switching off the engines after a chase involving helicopters and patrol ships. Authorities boarded the ship as it was sinking and confiscated a large illegal haul of crabs.
The 18-member crew, including the captain, was picked up from rescue rafts by a patrol ship and taken to the regional center, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, for questioning as part of a criminal case opened by prosecutors.
Poaching is widespread in the rich fishing waters off Russia's Pacific coast. Illegally operating fishermen sell their hauls at sea by reloading them onto foreign ships because prices for fish and seafood are much higher in Asia than in Russia.
Russian coast guards are often involved in chasing suspected poachers and have opened fire on vessels that try to escape to international waters.
