You're reading: Update: Emergency Ministry says vessel sinks with 12 aboard near Kerch

A Mongolian-flagged vessel carrying scrap metal has sunk off the Cape Kyz-Aul near the Kerch Peninsula in eastern Crimea early Monday morning, the Ukrainian Emergency Situations Ministry told Interfax.

The 12-members crew is made up of ten Russians and two Ukrainians.

After an SOS signal was sent, nearby vessels were dispatched and, as of 12:10 p.m., nine of the 12 sailors aboard had been rescued.