Bulgarian cargo ship Vanessa, with 11 people on board, sank on the morning of January 3 2008, in the the Sea of Azov, near the Strait of Kerch.

The vessel carried metal from the Ukrainian city of Berdyansk, mediapool.bg said. Radio Moscow Echo said the remains of two sailors had been found.

Ten of the ship's crew members were Bulgarian, one Ukrainian.

The Vanessa sank at a distance between 25 and 30 miles from the strait which connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. The ship sent out an emergency call at 2.14am.

The vessel was owned by Bord Marin - Bourgas.

The vessel could not yet be lifted as the waves were three meters high and winds reached a speed of 20 m per second, the Russian ministry of extraordinary situations was quoted by new agencies as saying.

One month earlier, in the same region, five ships sank in one night, when 3000 tons of oil and 6000 tons of brimstone were spilled.