A photo shows the survivors from the ship New Star drift in a lifeboat. [Sina.com.cn]

J-Rui said there were 16 crew on board; 10 Chinese and 6 Indonesians. The company has been informed by China's maritime rescue center that 8 crew members have been rescued and 8 are missing. J-Rui said it strongly condemns what it terms "Russian brutality".

The company says Russian navy officers "did not offer any assistance to the crew of the New Star to board the warship". Instead, the Russian patrol watched the two lifeboats drift away and become engulfed in waves. J-Rui said it intends to seek damages from Russia and demanded an apology on behalf of the crew and their families.

The Vladivostok coastal coordination and assistance center announced on Sunday that a Russian coast guard vessel had saved eight foreign sailors "trapped in bad weather". It made no mention of a confrontation with the Russian navy.

China's Foreign Ministry has confirmed an accident at sea occurred but gave few details. Its website said the Department of Consular Affairs and the Chinese embassy in Russia have asked the Russia embassy in China and other Russian government departments to continue rescue efforts and to investigate the accident.
Watch Chinese FM confirm shipwreck near Vladivostok

Sun Lijie, the Chinese consul general in Khabarovsk in southeastern Russia, told Xinhua News Agency that three crewmen had been rescued and were being treated in a local hospital.

(China.org.cn February 19, 2009)