Two Russian tugboats approached on Friday the Cambodia-flagged cargo ship with 24 Russians on board, which has been stranded in the Sea of Japan, a local sea rescue center official said.

The MV Victor freighter carrying a shipment of Japanese-made cars transmitted a distress signal shortly after leaving the Japanese port of Otaru for the city of Vladivostok in Russia's Far East on Thursday.

A Russian coast guard patrol vessel has arrived at Victor's location about 40 nautical miles from the Russian coast to monitor the ship's condition and to ensure the safety of 19 crew members and five passengers until two rescue tugboats arrive in the area to tow the ship in distress to the nearest port.

"Two sea rescue tugboats approached the foreign vessel in distress at 18:00 local time Friday [8:00 GMT]," the source said.

He said that an operation to attach towing cables to the vessel is currently underway and the rescue operation would start soon.

The operation is being hampered by high waves and a severe snow storm, which swept over the Sea of Japan in the past two days.

VLADIVOSTOK, January 1 (RIA Novosti)