The Sinegorye, with 18 crew members on board, is believed to have sunk in the Sea of Japan, according to the Russian Transportation Ministry. The ship, which was sailing around 80 nautical miles off South Korea's east coast, sent out an SOS at 1:40 p.m. local time (6:40 a.m. Moscow time/2.40 a.m. GMT) Monday, before communications were lost.
A spokesman for the regional rescue center in Russia's Far East port of Vladivostok said one sailor was picked up from a life raft, and the other two from sea. The Emergencies Ministry reported that one body had been found.
South Korea's patrol boats and an aircraft are continuing to search the area. Russia's Yury Orlenko ship has left Vladivostok to join rescue efforts in the area, along with an Emergencies Ministry Be-200 amphibious plane, which took off from the city of Khabarovsk in Russia's Far East at 8.10 a.m. Moscow time (4.10 a.m. GMT), the Russian official said.
