Moscow: Five Indonesian and three Chinese sailors from a sinking cargo ship drowned today when a rescue attempt was thwarted by six-metre waves in the Sea of Japan.
Russian officials say 16 sailors boarded two inflatable liferafts after their ship, the New Star, began to sink about 90 kilometres from the port of Nakhodka in Russia's Far East.
Russian coast guard ships rescued eight people from one craft but several attempts to rescue sailors from the other failed because of the stormy weather.
Those eight sailors were washed into the sea and are considered dead. The coast guard was searching for the bodies.
The ship had unloaded its cargo and sailed empty from Nakhodka on Thursday under the flag of Sierra Leone. Its destination was not immediately known.
The eight rescued sailors were also Chinese and Indonesian. [16/2/09]
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