Russian oil tanker stranded in Sea of Japan

PanARMENIAN.Net - A Russian tanker carrying almost 800 tons of fuel oil became stranded in the Sea of Japan after suffering an engine failure, the Emergencies Ministry reported on Sunday, February 17, according to RIA Novosti.

“The tanker Marine Alliance, which was sailing to the [Russian Pacific] port of Nakhodka, has been disabled due to a failure of its main engine,” the Emergencies Ministry said in a statement, without specifying weather conditions at the scene of the incident.

The tanker’s 20-memer crew did not suffer in the incident. The tanker is expected to be taken on tow by another Russian vessel, Georgiy Froier, which is sailing towards the site of the incident, the statement said.

Marine Alliance already suffered an engine failure on February 7 in the Sea of Japan in rough weather. The disabled tanker was drifting towards Okushiri Island, north of Tsugaru Strait when a Japanese salvage vessel took the tanker on tow on February 8 and helped it arrive at Hakodate port, Hokkaido, on February 11, Russia’s Maritime Bulletin reported.