Russia says it rescues all 139 fishermen stranded on ice floe in Western Pacific sea

Russia’s emergency services said on Wednesday that it had rescued all 139 fishermen stranded on an ice floe drifting in the Sea of Okhotsk in the Western Pacific.

Earlier, the ministry said that about 300 were stranded and that some of them refused “to leave without a catch under any circumstances”.

The ministry posted several videos from the rescue operation, including one showing fishermen walking on snowy ice away from the rescuers.

But later the ministry said on the Telegram messaging service that a rescue operation involving helicopters and vessels had brought all 139 stranded people ashore.

It was unclear why so many fishermen had gathered at the location in Russia’s Sakhalin region. Traditionally, the Sakhalin winter fishing season begins in early February with a period of active biting until April.

About a 10 metre (33 feet) ice crack formed from the Russian village of Malki to the mouth of the Dolinka River in the Sakhalin region, setting the fishermen adrift in the Sea of Okhotsk, the ministry said earlier.

Winters in the Sakhalin region in Russia’s Far East, which comprises the Sakhalin Island and the chain of the Kuril Islands, are cold, snowy and long, often lasting more than five months.