Cargo ship with 11 crew missing in Russia's Far East

MOSCOW - A Russian cargo ship with 11 crew members onboard went missing in Russia's Far East on Sunday, local marine rescue authorities said.

Amurskoye lost contact with the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Sea Rescue Coordination Center after it sent a distress signal in the Okhotsk Sea, the center said.

An emergency beacon on the ship was turned on near the Shantar Islands at 9:15 Moscow time (0515 GMT), it said.

Rescuers were searching for the missing ship but had failed to locate it so far, the center said, adding it could not confirm whether the ship had sunk.

A tanker reached the scene of the missing ship but did not find it, local media cited law-enforcement authorities as saying, adding the search and rescue operation was hampered by severe storms and strong winds.

The 55-meter-long Amurskaya has a displacement of 800 tons. Its home port is Nikolayevsk-on-Amur.