Sinking of a trawler in the Barents Sea: Putin expressed his condolences to the families of the victims of the Onega ship wreck

Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences to the families of those killed in the crash of the fishing vessel Onega in the Barents Sea.

This was reported by the Kremlin press service.

“I learned with sorrow about the tragedy in the Barents Sea, which claimed the lives of the crew members of the fishing vessel“ Onega ”.

I ask you to convey my deep condolences to the families of the victims and words of support to the victims, ”the head of state said in a telegram to the Governor of the Murmansk region, Andrey Chibis.

In turn, the head of the Cabinet of Ministers Mikhail Mishustin instructed Deputy Prime Minister Victoria Abramchenko to take control of the situation with the sinking of the trawler, providing the families of the sailors with all the necessary assistance.

Under the leadership of Abramchenko, a headquarters has already been created to investigate the causes of the tragedy.

On Monday morning, December 28, the press service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation reported that the Russian fishing vessel "Onega" No. MK 0331, assigned to the port of Murmansk, sank near the Novaya Zemlya archipelago.

According to preliminary information, there were 19 people on board, of which 16 were residents of the Murmansk region, one each from the Arkhangelsk, Kursk and Rostov regions.

By now, the Voikovo fishing trawler has rescued two crew members.

The Ministry of Emergency Situations reported the main version of the reason for the Onega flooding.

“Initially, there was a version of the vessel icing, but after talking with our specialists, it is still more likely that the vessel was capsized as a result of pulling a fishing trawl.

Most likely, the ship heeled, scooped up water and sank to the bottom.

This version is the most probable at the moment, but again all the reasons and conditions will need to be assessed by specialists, ”said Alexander Bakhtin, deputy head of the Russian Emergencies Ministry's Main Directorate for the Arkhangelsk Region.

He also did not confirm the information about the discovery of the body of one of the crew members of the ship "Onega".

Earlier, the captain of the port of Murmansk, Eduard Bezukladov, said that one victim was found who was "holding on to a life preserver."

According to the preliminary analysis, Rosrybolovstvo believes that neglect of safety measures in combination with unfavorable weather conditions could have caused the tragedy.

“Sudden water ingress through the Malbuger damper is also not excluded, which led to an instant loss of stability of the vessel,” added the press service of the department.

• RIA News

The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that the Northern Fleet sent an Il-38 naval aviation aircraft from the duty forces to the area of ​​the search operation.

On board there is equipment for rescuing those in distress at sea.

As noted in the Ministry of Defense, the use of aviation is complicated by the short daylight hours and unfavorable weather conditions - the wave height at the site of the emergency reaches four meters, the air temperature is about -20 ° C.

In turn, the press secretary of Rosmorrechflot Alexei Kravchenko told RT that four vessels, including the Voikovo trawler, are engaged in the search for the missing crew members of the Onega vessel, so far no one has been found.

“There are remnants of ship debris on the surface, vessels continue to circulate in the water area in search of the missing.

The weather is not conducive to searching.

The visibility is very low, especially since the polar night, ”he said.

With reference to the words of the survivors, Kravchenko stressed that at the time of the emergency, the trawl was lifted on the vessel, and suddenly the wave hit the side.

“This (lifting the trawl. -

RT

) makes maneuvers difficult and worsens the stability of the vessel.

At that moment, as they say, there was a wave hitting the side and the vessel quickly sank to the bottom, ”added a representative of Rosmorrechflot.

As the leading specialist of the Phobos weather center Yevgeny Tishkovets told RIA Novosti, in the area where the Onega was located, there was a hurricane wind with gusts of up to 32 m / s, a blizzard, and the air temperature was -12 ° С.

According to the Governor of the Arkhangelsk Region Alexander Tsybulsky, the owner of the vessel is the Kalinin fishing collective farm.

“At this hour, information has been confirmed that among the crew members of the trawler“ Onega ”there is one native of the Arkhangelsk region.

The search operation continues.

We will provide all the necessary assistance and support to the seaman's family, ”he wrote in his Telegram channel.

The All-Russian Association of Fisheries Enterprises, Entrepreneurs and Exporters (VARPE), with reference to the director of the Kalinin Republic of Kazakhstan, Andrei Zaik, reported that Onega was fully operational, all maintenance work was "carried out on time and in full."

“All the necessary procedures and approvals were followed before entering the fishery,” the statement said.

The government of the Murmansk region held an operational meeting on the fact of the incident.

The head of the region Andrey Chibis instructed his deputy Dmitry Filippov to keep the situation under control.

“A hot line is open for their relatives, psychologists are working.

According to preliminary information, the majority of the crew - 16 people - are residents of Murmansk.

All the necessary assistance will be provided to families, ”Chibis said.

The Murmansk Transport Prosecutor's Office is conducting a check on the fact of an emergency, its results are under the control of the North-Western Transport Prosecutor's Office.

The Arkhangelsk Investigation Department for Transport of the North-West Investigative Department for Transport of the Investigative Committee of Russia opened a criminal case on the grounds of a crime under Part 3 of Art.

263 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Violation of traffic safety rules and operation of water transport”).

“At present, investigators have left for the scene.

The investigation carries out a set of necessary investigative actions aimed at establishing all the circumstances of the ship's sinking.

All versions of what happened are being considered, ”the department said.

The ship "Onega" was built in Norway in 1979 and has a gross tonnage of 368 tons.

According to Marine Traffic, the last time the trawler entered the home port was on December 11, while the Onega left the Norwegian port of Kirkenes on December 14 in the Barents Sea.