The crew of a Sovcomflot tanker rescued 19 seafarers after their ship started sinking off the coast of Yemen, the Russian company said.

The 111,682-dwt NS Africa (built 2009) responded to a distress signal on Sunday and picked up all the seafarers from a life raft after they abandoned the ship.

The sinking vessel was named by SCF Group as the Lavant with crew members from India, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Indonesia.