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Investigators prepare to interrogate sole survivor of missing catamaran in Sea of Okhotsk
Investigators plan to question Mikhail Pichugin, the only surviving crew member of the out-of-control catamaran "Baikat" that has been drifting in the Sea of Okhotsk for more than two months, if the man's condition allows, DEITA.RU reported.
The man is currently in the intensive care unit of the Magadan Regional Hospital. As the hospital's attending physician, Yuri Lednev, told Izvestia, the patient is in a stable condition, was not injured, but is severely exhausted. (The man lost more than 50 kg due to excess weight and probably survived. There are "reserves" in his body.) Investigators from the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Magadan Region plan to question the man today.
A criminal case is being investigated on the facts of the incident with the small vessel under the elements of a crime under Article 263 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (violation of traffic safety rules and violation of inland sea transport operations). Two crew members died during the drift. They were the brother of the survivor and his 15-year-old nephew. He managed to save the bodies of his dead relatives by tying them to the boat.
The catamaran boat was found on the fishing trawler "Angel". Research work is currently underway on the vessel, and it is expected that it will resume fishing in Magadan.
The catamaran, sailing from the north of Khabarovsk Krai to Sakhalin, lost speed due to engine failure. Communication with the crew was lost on August 9. The crew's water and food supplies lasted less than two weeks, and the ship drifted for 67 days.
Mikhail Pichugin is not yet a suspect. But if he is found to have failed to properly prepare his boat for the harsh North Sea that killed two of his relatives, he faces up to seven years in prison.