Norwegian authorities said the captain of a Russian trawler is dead, but 18 other members of his crew were rescued when the vessel sank in the Barents Sea.

Officials at Norway's Rescue Coordination Center said other Russian vessels picked up the 18 crew members from lifeboats after the trawler, the Topaz A, began to sink Tuesday off Bear Island in Norway's Svalbard archipelago.

Helicopters took two of those rescued to a hospital on the island of Spitsbergen. Russian vessels are taking the others to the Norwegian mainland.

There is no information on the cause of the sinking or what caused the captain's death.