A storm in the White Sea was determined the cause of why a cargo ship, the Kapitan Kuznetsov, went missing for 24 hours, the shipowner said on Wednesday.
“The reason the ship was forced to stop its engines was due to a storm, despite the weather forecast that the crew received four days ago,” the company statement said. The ship’s crew did not receive an updated weather report and found themselves in a storm with high waves and winds.
The Kapitan Kuznetsov was en route from St. Petersburg to the northern Russian port city of Arkhangelsk when its distress beacons went off at 4:09 a.m. Moscow time (00:09 GMT). There are 11 crewmembers on board.
A criminal investigation has been opened over violations of safety rules.
Earlier it was reported that an Mi-8 helicopter lowered a doctor and a rescuer onto the ship. The Kapitan Kuznetsov has taken a course for Arkhangelsk.