VLADIVOSTOK, November 4, (RIA Novosti's Anatoly Ilyukhov) - An Antonov An-26 aircraft serving with the Russian Navy's Pacific fleet spotted a lifeboat with sailors 120 km from the Primorye (Maritime) territory's coast in the Russian Far East. That plane was trying to locate the missing West ship.
Talking to RIA Novosti here today, the Pacific fleet's press-center officials noted that the pilots saw the sailors wave their hands in joy.
The An-26 crew promptly radioed the lifeboat's coordinates to ground control. Russia's Grifon ocean-going rescue tug is already heading into the vicinity.
The West ship, which had been registered under the Mongolian flag, and which had 27 Russian sailors onboard, was carrying timber from Primorye to Japan.
The ship's captain reported in the evening of November 2 that timber had started shifting on deck, and that the ship was listing.
The captain ordered the crew to cut all ropes and to dump timber into the sea. All communications with the ship were subsequently lost.
