Russian rescuers found a missing cargo ship, the Kapitan Kuznetsov, in the White Sea, a department from the Russian Emergencies Ministry said on Wednesday.

A search operation started on Tuesday. The Kapitan Kuznetsov was en route from St. Petersburg to the northern Russian port city of Arkhangelsk when its distress beacons went off at 4:09 a.m. Moscow time (00:09 GMT).

There are 11 crewmembers and one passenger on board.

"All of the crewmembers are on board the vessel and an Mi-8 [helicopter] is in the process of lifting from the vessel," a ministry spokesman said.

An icebreaker, the Dikson, is on its way and is due to arrive within a couple of hours. Rescue operations may become significantly complicated because there are 7-meter high waves in the area.