Missing ship's owner detained in Khabarovsk territory
VLADIVOSTOK. Nov 6 (Interfax) - The owner of the Amurskaya bulk freighter that went missing in the Sea of Okhotsk on October 28 has been detained.
"The general director of OAO Nikolayevsk-on-Amur Sea Port, the ship's owner, has been detained in Komsomolsk-on-Amur as part of the criminal inquiry into the incident," the Russian Investigative Committee's Far East Transport Department reported on Tuesday.
"Criminal charges will be brought against the suspect shortly and he could be taken into custody," it said.
Reports said earlier that the Amurskaya sent out a distress signal on October 28 after it entered the Sea of Okhotsk from the Kiran River in the Tuguro-Chumikan district and headed to Feklistov Island, part of the Shantar Islands.
The ship was carrying 700 tonnes of gold ore to Okhotsk. The nine-member crew has not been in radio contact since the ship disappeared.
A Beriev Be-200 amphibious plane from the Emergency Situations Ministry spotted fuel oil in the Sea of Okhotsk on Sunday, in the location where the Amurskaya issued a distress signal on October 28. A tug boat arrived at the scene and detected an object at a depth of 25 meters that could be the missing ship.
A criminal case was started after the incident on counts of violating rules for safe navigation that led to multiple deaths by negligence.