Hundreds stuck on ships in ice Russia's Okhotsk Sea

Two icebreakers were on their way to help three ships carrying 555 people in the Okhotsk Sea in Russia's Far East Saturday after they were stuck in ice, Transport Minister Igor Levitin said. "Three big vessels found themselves in an area of drifting ice with ice about 30 centimetres (about a foot) thick," the minister said in a meeting with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin shown on television.
Levitin said the icebreaker Magadan was expected to reach the ships on Sunday. "The Makarov should arrive overnight January 3-4," he added. People on board the ships, one of which is a factory vessel carrying 348 people, are not in danger as they have enough food, said Levitin.