Rescue ship reaches vessel stuck in ice in Russia's Far East

A rescue vessel has reached a refrigerator ship in distress off Russia's Sakhalin Island, a rescue spokesman said on Monday.

A rescue vessel has reached a refrigerator ship in distress off Russia's Sakhalin Island, a rescue spokesman said on Monday.

The Smolninsky vessel signaled its distress 220 km off the coastal village of Nogliki in the Sea of Okhotsk on January 22. There were 20 crew members and 11 passengers on board, all of them Russians. The passengers were evacuated using an Mi-8 Hip helicopter early on Saturday.

The spokesman said a rescue team is working at the site.

Earlier, he said rescuers would examine the refrigerator and decide on whether it could be repaired in the sea or should be towed to a port.

YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, January 25 (RIA Novosti)