MOSCOW, October 23 (RIA Novosti) - A Russian ship with 18 crew members on board has sunk in the Sea of Japan, according to preliminary information, the Russian Transportation Ministry said Monday.

Three foreign vessels are nearing the Sinegorye, which was sailing around 80 nautical miles off South Korea's east coast when it sent out an SOS at 1:40 p.m. local time (6:40 a.m. Moscow time/2.40 a.m. GMT).

"The ship has presumably sunk. The South Korean side promised to send five helicopters and 20 patrol boats to the site of the wreckage when weather conditions improve," the ministry said.

A spokesman for the regional rescue center in Russia's Pacific city of Vladivostok said a Panamanian ship is likely to be the first to arrive at the scene at about 11 p.m. local time (4 p.m. Moscow time/noon GMT). An Israeli ship and a South Korean patrol boat are also approaching the area.

He added that strong winds are complicating the ships' movements.

"The movement of the foreign ships toward the Russian vessel is complicated by stormy weather," he said. "Wind speed around the Korean Peninsula's southern coast is 25 to 30 meters per second (56-67 mph), and wave height is about seven meters (23 feet)."