A Russian dry cargo ship that collided with another ship sank on Tuesday off the coast of Japan, the Russian Transportation Ministry said.
The Vladivostok-based Tanya Karpinskaya ship sank 30 minutes after a collision with a Singapore-flagged cargo vessel near the port of Niigata. All 17 members of the Russian crew have been rescued.
Japanese authorities have launched a probe into the accident.
Meanwhile, the fate of Ivan Vikulov, the dry cargo ship that became stranded in ice in late January some 60 kilometers (37 miles) off Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and caught fire on Sunday, remains unknown.
The 14-man Russian crew has been evacuated, but the ship, still on fire, reportedly continues to drift in heavy ice in the middle of the Azov Sea.
Salvage operations are subject to payment under a contract with the ship-owner, which has not been signed yet, local media said.
