Russian icebreaking vessel not in distress; made Mayday call by accident - report

The Russian icebreaking vessel that made a Mayday call earlier is not in distress off the Norway coast and made the call by accident, Tass has reported citing Russian Sea Transport Agency.

"There are no problems, the icebreaker is fine, the crew is safe. The distress signal was sent accidentally during an outage on some equipment during the storm," the Russian Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transportation was quoted as saying.

The Norwegian Joint Rescue Coordination Centre had earlier said that a Russian icebreaking vessel with 33 people on board has made a Mayday call during a storm off the coast. It was being reported that the vessel initially lost engine power but has regained some ability to maneuver, the rescue service said, adding that tugboats are also on the way.