The Emergency Situations Ministry said Wednesday that divers had located wreckage of the Amurskaya cargo ship that went missing last week in the Sea of Okhotsk in the Far East.
The sunken ship was found just after 9:30 a.m. near the Shantar Islands at a depth of 25 meters, the ministry said in a statement. Emergency workers had spotted what they believed to be the wreckage on Monday using sonar.
The ministry renewed confusion Wednesday over the exact number of crew members who had gone missing on the ship, saying 11 people had been on board, while prosecutors earlier had said there were nine.
Divers did not find any of the missing crew, having been unable to enter the wreckage due to the strong current. They were able to inspect the deck through portholes but found no bodies.
The ship, which was carrying 700 tons of gold ore, disappeared from radars on Oct. 28 while traveling near the Shantar Islands after setting off an emergency beacon. Search and rescue teams were prevented from beginning their search for days due to bad weather conditions.
The owner of the missing Amurskaya freighter was arrested earlier this week on suspicion of negligence leading to multiple deaths, having allegedly been aware that the ship was not equipped to carry such heavy cargo.
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