Search for missing sailors from Alexandra brings no results

VLADIVOSTOK, February 20 (Itar-Tass) -- The search operation for
missing Russian sailors from the Alexandra motor ship, which sank off the
coast of South Korea shore, did not bring any positive results.
On January 9, the Alexandra motor ship, deadweight of 2,150 tonnes,
with a cargo of timber left Nakhodka port for Japan. From Japan the vessel
headed for China. The ship sent no distress signal.
Korean rescuers found two rafts at the wreck site. A sailor was on one
of the rafts, while the other one was empty. According to the Far Eastern
regional organisation of the Russian Seafarers' Union, the sailor is
33-year-old Ruslan Drichev, resident of Primorye. Four bodies have been
found and identified. There were 12 crewmen on board the Alexandra.
Ship owner's agent reports that a South Korean ship was on a test run
in that area at the time of the shipwreck. According to the agent "there
is a possibility that the ship could have collided with the Alexandra,
which wrecked as a result of the collision".
The Alexandra belonged to the Amur Inland Navigation Company, and was
leased to the Rawley Group LTD Company from Khabarovsk.
The motor ship was built in 1984, her deadweight is 2,150 tonnes, the
Far Eastern Regional Organisation of the Russian Seafarers' Union reported.
Five South Korean helicopters and 15 different vessels took part in
the search for missing Russian sailors from the Alexandra motor ship.