Rescuers have recovered eight sailors while two are still missing from a refrigerator ship which sank on Sunday in the Okhotsk Sea in Russia's Far East, the Russian Emergencies Ministry said on its website.

The ship, PTR-WEST, went down around 1.15 p.m., eight km (five miles) off the coast. Previously it was reported that the crew of eight had all evacuated the ship in two life rafts.

"Eight sailors were picked up from a raft to the rescue ship MRS-046. The fate of two of the crew is unknown. The rescue ship is heading for a second raft. A search operation is underway for the crew," the Emergencies Ministry said.

One crew member, born in 1969 "remained on the sunken ship," the Ministry said.

The MRS-406 with the rescued crew members on board is heading for the village of Oktyabrsky and is expected to arrive in around an hour and a half. Medical teams are waiting to meet the vessel, and take the crew to hospital in Oktyabrsky if need be.