More than 100 trapped fishermen rescued from ice floe in Russia’s Far East

More than 100 fishermen were rescued from a sheet of floating ice that drifted into waters off Russia’s remote Far East, authorities said Wednesday.

The 139 fishermen became stranded when a 10-meter (32 feet) crack formed an ice floe that broke away from the island of Sakhalin and floated into the Sea of Okhotsk between Russia and Japan, emergency services said on Telegram.

Videos shared by responders showed fishermen being escorted away amid strong winds in an operation that involved an Mi-8 helicopter and a Khivus hovercraft, which can travel on ice and water.

Not everyone was happy to see rescue workers, however.

Earlier, emergency services said “some extreme sports enthusiasts” among those trapped on the ice had refused to leave without a catch.

It is not uncommon for people to become trapped on ice floes in Sakhalin, a 1,000-kilometer (621 mile) strip of land that is Russia’s largest island.

Last February, more than 80 fishermen were rescued after an ice floe broke away from shore near the village of Starodubskoye.

And in 2020, more than 500 ice fishermen were rescued from an ice floe near Mordvinov Bay on Sakhalin, according to state-run news agency RIA Novosti.