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Ekarma-7 trawler leaves Kamchatka Bay because of storm
02/03/2009 Source:Translation: RusNavy.com
The Sakhalin trawler Ekarma-7, which endured two fires on January 29 and February 2nd, because of a storm, has been forced to leave the Kambalnaya Bay on the Kamchatka coast, where rescuers planned to inspect the boat, an officer of the Sakhalin Navigation Service told Ria Novosti.
“The rescue boat Spravedlivy towed the boat into the Kambalnaya Bay south-west of Kamchatka, but it was not possible to perform an inspection. The winds shifted direction and the ship began moving closer and closer to the shore,” the officer told the news agency.
The boats were, therefore, forced to leave the bay and are now in heading for the Sea of Okhotsk around the south-west of the Kamchatka coast. The Spravedlivy still has the Ekarma-7 in tow.
“There is a powerful north-western wing reaching 40 km/h in the Sea of Okhotsk,” the official added.
The trawler, which is owned by the company Ekarma-Sakhalin and is registered at the Nevelsk port, caught fire at 1:00 Sakhalin time (18:00 Moscow time) on Thursday. The boat, which was fishing 170 kilometers west of Cape Lopatka, reportedly caught fire as material used to package fish began burning.
The rescue boat Spravedlivy reached the trawler in distress on Friday. Rescuers planned to tow the boat to shore for an inspection on the same day, but during towing a fire once again broke out in the hold of the boat. The fire was contained only by the end of the day.
Foreigners working aboard the trawler were evacuated on Friday, while the remaining crew was evacuated on Saturday. The trawler had 95 people aboard, among them 43 Russian citizens. No-one was reported injured.
The section of the boat used to process fish has burned completely. The motor room, where the fire started, has been tightly sealed.