Russian delegation to attend forum of Sailors' Union of the Pacific

VLADIVOSTOK, March 1 (Itar-Tass) -- A delegation from the Russian
Seafarers' Union on Tuesday will take part in the forum of the Sailors' Union of the Pacific in the Philippines. The forum is expected to discuss anti-piracy measures.
The Russian delegation is led by chairman of the Far Eastern branch of the Russian Seafarers' Union Nikola Sukhanov.
According to Sukhanov, seafarers' unions are seriously concerned over piracy in the Indian Ocean and are set to step up anti-piracy efforts. The Russian union suggests that sea pirates should be qualified as terrorists.
Within the forum's frameworks, the Russian delegation will discuss
with its South Korean counterparts compensations to families of the
Russian seamen from the Alexandra motor vessel flying the Cambodian flag,
who died in a collision with a South Korean dry cargo ship some 16 miles
from the port of Ulsan.
The Alexandra motor ship on January 9 left Nakhodka port with a cargo
of sawn timber for Japan. From there the ship headed for her last voyage
to China for scrapping, but failed to reach the destination port. On
February 9, the freighter with a deadweight of 2,150 tonnes was literally
"cut" into two parts by a Korean container ship with a capacity of 88,000
tonnes that was on sea trials, 16 miles off the South Korean port of
Ulsan. The crew of the Alexandra, flying the Cambodian flag, consisted of
12 Russian sailors. Only 33-year-old sailor Ruslan Drichev of Nakhodka
managed to survive. Four of the crewmembers were killed and seven went
missing.
The Russian delegations wants the Korean Seafarers' Union to take the
lead in organising judicial proceedings to establish the amounts of
compensation to the families of the dead sailors.