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Naval submarine Jimmy Carter christened at Connecticut shipyard GROTON, Conn. (AP) -- Former President Jimmy Carter was filled with emotion Saturday as the most advanced nuclear submarine in the U.S. Navy was named after him at a Connecticut shipyard. "This is a very wonderful day for me, to see my wife break the champagne on undoubtedly the finest and most formidable ship in the world," said Carter, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and the only submariner to be elected president. Carter's wife, Rosalynn, blessed the Seawolf-class nuclear submarine and its crew, then hesitated for a moment before cracking...

Two icebreakers have freed a large fish-processing ship that had been trapped in ice off Russia's far eastern coast since New Year's Eve. The Russian Transport Ministry said on Sunday the ship has been towed to open water in the Sea of Okhotsk. The Sodruzhestvo was the last of three ships that became trapped

Russian icebreakers began rescue operations Monday to free a commercial vessel trapped in ice in the Sea of Okhotsk off eastern Russia... An unnamed Russian Transport Ministry spokesman said the Krasin and Admiral Makarov icebreakers embarked on a risky rescue operation to free the refrigerator freighter Shore of Hope...

AN air sea search for at least 11 Russian fishermen missing since their trawler sank in heavy seas four days ago has finally been called off. The agency's chief Andrei Krainy told the Russian state television that he was "100 per cent certain that this was an illegal ship" because it was registered in Belize and sailing under a Cambodian flag. He said: "We cannot possibly track ships like that. It is believed there were between 11 and 14 people on board and that the vessel had sailed from Sakhalin Island." He added that without wet suits or liferafts the...

Rescue efforts are under way to evacuate more than 600 crew on 10 ships trapped in ice in the Sea of Okhotsk. Signals are reported to have been received from a fishing boat and a research vessel which are in the greatest distress, stuck in the ice about 12 miles (19km) from the coast.

Major quake hits region of Okhotsk Sea 13 minutes ago A major earthquake with a magnitude of 7.5 hit the region of the Sea of Okhotsk early Saturday, the US Geological Survey said, but no casualties were reported. The epicentre of the quake, at a depth of 605 kilometres, was said to be 384 kilometres (239 miles) west-northwest of the Russian far eastern city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy. It occurred at 0212 GMT, the USGS said

The Beauty of Okhotsk (photos)