Russian officials say five Indonesian and three Chinese sailors drowned during a failed attempt to rescue them after their cargo ship began to sink. The New Star began to sink about 50 nautical miles from the Russian port of Nakhodka in the Sea of Japan. Rescue officials say the ship's 16 sailors boarded two inflatable life rafts and Russian coast guard ships rescued eight of them. But the Vladivostok Rescue Coordinating Center said attempts Sunday to rescue the sailors on the other raft failed because of rough seas, and all eight were washed overboard. The ship had sailed from Nakhodka under the flag of Sierra Leone. Its destination and cargo were not immediately known, Associated Press reported.
