109 fishermen have been safely rescued after being stranded on a drifting ice floe east of Russia in the Sea of Okhotsk.
The incident occurred when a 10-metre crack formed on the ice, extending from the village of Malki to the mouth of the Dolinka River on the Russian island of Sakhalin.
A total of 44 fishermen were airlifted to safety by an Mi-8 helicopter dispatched from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, while others decided to stay behind, choosing not to abandon their catch and equipment.
The remaining fishermen were eventually rescued using boats.
It is not unusual for people to get stranded on ice floes in Sakhalin, Russia’s largest island with an area of over 72,000 square kilometres. Sakhalin has a population of around half a million people, and is located just north of the Japanese island of Hokkaido.
Last February, more than 80 fishermen were rescued when an ice floe detached from the shore near Starodubskoye village.
In 2020, more than 500 ice fishermen had to be rescued from an ice floe near Mordvinov Bay, as reported by Russia’s state-run news agency.
