The Krasin and Admiral Makarov icebreakers, which are rescuing a large Russian fishing ship in the Arctic, have covered only 1.8 miles in heavy ice floe in the past 24 hours, the Far Eastern Shipping Company said on Thursday.

The Sodruzhestvo mother fishery ship has been stuck in an "ice prison" in the Sea of Okhotsk for almost a month.

"The convoy is moving very slowly due to breaking towing cables and constant shifting of heavy ice floe," company spokeswoman Tatyana Kulikova said.

"The ships have managed to cover only 1.8 miles since Wednesday, and have about 20 miles to go till they reach clear waters," she added.

The Krasin icebreaker is towing the fishing ship, while the Admiral Makarov is leading the convoy clearing a passable canal in the thick ice.

Since the beginning of the current operation on Wednesday morning, the rescue operation has been suspended twice because of the breakage of towing cables.

The two icebreakers have already freed three other Russian fishing vessels that had been trapped together with Sodruzhestvo in the Sea of Okhotsk since December 31.

VLADIVOSTOK, January 27 (RIA Novosti)