Bad weather slows SKorea search for Russian ship

Seoul, Oct 24: Bad weather was hampering efforts to recover a Russian cargo vessel and its 18 crew members, whose fate remained unknown today, a day after the vessel lost radio contact off South Korea's coast, officials said.

The 2,448-tonne Sinegorye, carrying timber, sent a mayday call yesterday at around noon about 110 km off Ullung Island on the east coast, the South Korean coast guard said.

Two large patrol boats and a search aircraft were dispatched to the area but the vessels experienced difficulty reaching the area until well into the night, a coast guard official said by telephone.

''It is too early to talk about the fate of the crew members,'' the official said from the coastal city of Donghae after daybreak.

''Weather conditions remain extremely bad.'' The vessel is believed to have sunk, but the coast guard was not able to confirm it yet, the official said.

The vessel was sailing from Russia's Far East to China when water rushed into its cargo compartment in high winds and tides, the coast guard said in a statement.

Torrential rain storms hit South Korea's northeastern region yesterday.

REUTERS