The Oryong 501. (via Korea Times)

The U.S. Coast Guard is helping Russian rescuers look for more than 50 fishermen who are missing after their vessel sank Monday in the far western Bering Sea.

Fifty-four crew members from the South Korean trawler Oryong 501 are still unaccounted for. Seven others were rescued from a life raft after the sinking, and one more person is confirmed dead.

The trawler was pulling in pollock nets off the Russian Far East coast of Chukotka when it was struck by a wave, filling its storage tanks with water, according to the Russian border guard.

The Coast Guard Cutter Munro and a C-130 aircraft from Air Station Kodiak did not find any survivors on scene Monday, says petty officer Diana Honings. They returned to Alaska that night, and headed back out Tuesday morning to keep looking.

They're assisting Russian search and rescue and four good Samaritan fishing vessels that have stayed on scene to help. Seas yesterday were more than 20 feet high, with low visibility. The water temperature is around 57 degrees.