Russian Tanker Saves Seven Fishermen off Tallinn

Last week, the Sovcomflot product tanker SCF Angara rescued seven fishermen from a sinking trawler off the coast of Tallinn, Estonia, the company reported in a statement Monday. 

On February 6, the SCF Angara was under way from the port of Ust-Luga to Copenhagen, Denmark. Just before midnight, her crew received a distress call from the Russian trawler Pongoma, which was sinking at a position about 25 nautical miles off the coast of Tallinn. 

The SCF Angara's master, Capt. Alexey Maksimovsky, immediately responded to the request for help. With guidance from the rescue coordination center in Tallinn, SCF Angara diverted to assist the ship.

In a successful rescue operation, all seven members of the Pongoma’s crew were brought aboard the tanker, despite challenges posed by the dark of night and the poor weather conditions on scene. Two fishermen were in need of urgent medical care, and they were evacuated by helicopter to Helsinki. The remaining five crewmembers were airlifted to Tallinn by the Estonian rescue service. S?F Angara then resumed her voyage.

SCF noted that its merchant seafarers have carried out numerous rescues in the past, including two last year alone. Last March, the crew of the tanker SCF Surgut rescued 12 people from a yacht that had been caught in a storm in the Caribbean Sea. In November, the crew of the supply vessel Gennadiy Nevelskoy rescued three fishermen in the Sea of Okhotsk.