None hurt in vessel fire, rescuers rush to site

Nobody of the 25 crewmembers and four passengers aboard the burning vessel in the Sea of Japan was hurt, Itar-Tass reports. The transport refrigerator Akademik Khokhlov is drifting near South Korea's coast. The crew continued fighting the fire, according to reports as of Friday morning, Moscow time.

The blaze broke out in the vessel engine room overnight. It was doused with foam and sealed up.

The sea rescue vessel Chuyev was sent from Vladivostok to the site, the distance to which is 330 miles. The rescuers are expected to arrive there by the evening of June 21. They will help to extinguish the fire and tug the refrigerator to a nearest port, the head of the Vladivostok sea rescue coordination centre, Konstantin Sviridov, told Itar-Tass.

The burning 10,000-ton and 139-metre-long vessel was built in Poland more than 30 years ago. It belongs to the Rimsko ship line, the Primorsky Territory, and registered in the port of Vladivostok. The Akademik Khokhlov was on the way to the South Korean port of Pusan.

Source: Portnews