Ailing Soviet Sailor Treated in San Pedro

A crew member of a Soviet research ship was expected to be returned to his vessel in international waters late Thursday after he was rushed to a San Pedro medical clinic for treatment of an abscess over his eye, officials said.

The U.S. Coast Guard, which sent a cutter Wednesday to rendezvous with the Soviet ship at sea and pick up the ailing man, identified the crew member as Yury Kruts, 49. Kerr Steamships Co. of Long Beach, acting as the Soviet ship’s U.S. agent, transported Kruts to Anderson Medical Group in San Pedro for treatment, a Coast Guard spokeswoman said.

Kruts was examined by a specialist and is recuperating well, said Capt. Jim Hewitt, marine manager for Kerr Steamships.

The Soviet ship Odissey had been about 1,200 miles off Southern California’s coast, where it was taking samples of fish and ocean-bottom marine life, when officials aboard became concerned about Kruts, Hewitt said.

Petty Officer 1st Class Brenda Toledo said the Coast Guard was notified shortly after 10 a.m. Tuesday by the 230-foot Soviet vessel that an ailing crew member needed emergency medical treatment.

The Odissey then began traveling toward the coast, where the Coast Guard cutter met it about 10 a.m. Wednesday, about 25 miles south-southeast of Newport Beach, well outside the U.S. waters limit. Kruts was not accompanied by another crew member and was allowed into the country on a medical emergency basis, she said.

Hewitt said the U.S. steamship company is planning to transport Kruts back to the Soviet ship.