Salvors Recover Four Bodies From Burned-Out Russian Fishing Vessel

Salvors have successfully towed the burned-out fishing vessel Triumf into port at Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky in the Russian Far East, and a search operation has uncovered four victims' bodies within the interior of the vessel.

The seiner Triumf was under way off the southern end of Kamchatka on September 25 when she caught fire. 29 crewmembers were aboard the vessel at the time of the casualty, and 25 were evacuated by a nearby good Samaritan vessel. Of the survivors, seven were injured, including two in critical condition.

A salvage tug, the Suvorovets, managed to tow the Triumf into port at Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to enable firefighting operations, arriving on Tuesday. Shoreside fire teams came aboard and began their work, but the mass of the firefighting water began to endanger the vessel's stability and the effort was suspended. Instead, the hatches were all sealed and the fire was allowed to burn itself out, Interfax reports.

On Wednesday, responders found that the conditions were improved enough to resume operations, and firefighters began extinguishing the blaze in the interior. During this operation, they recovered the bodies of the four missing members of the crew.

The damage inside the ship is extensive, the Ministry of Emergency Situations said in a statement. A criminal inquiry has been opened into the case with a focus on possible safety violations. Early lines of investigation include a possible fault in the ship's electrical system or an error by the crew.