The Krasin icebreaker has started final preparations for towing the icebound Sodruzhestvo fishery mother ship to clear waters, the Far Eastern Shipping Company said on Tuesday.

"Krasin has been clearing the vessel from ice and preparing a channel for towing. Weather conditions in the rescue operation zone are favorable," a spokeswoman for the company said.

Another icebreaker, The Admiral Makarov, is also on its way to the area after being refueled.

The Bereg Nadezhdy ship, the Professor Kizevetter research vessel, and the Sodruzhestvo, carrying altogether over 400 people, got stuck in two-meter-thick ice in the Sea of Okhotsk on December 31. Two other ships, the Mys Yelizavety and the Anton Gurin, became trapped a few days later.

The Admiral Makarov released the Professor Kizevetter and the Mys Yelizavety vessels from the ice trap, while the Anton Gurin managed to cope on its own. The Bereg Nadezhdy has been successfully towed to clear water on Monday.

VLADIVOSTOK, January 25 (RIA Novosti)