LONDON, June 26 (Reuters) - A ship operated by Russian

shipping group Sovcomflot rescued the crew of a tanker taking in

water off Yemen's coast this week, the state-owned company,

which is under Western sanctions, said on Wednesday.

Sovcomflot tanker NS Africa was sailing southeast of the

port of Nishtun in southern Yemen on June 23 when it responded

to a distress call by the Lavant tanker whose crew had abandoned

ship and were in a life raft in the open sea.

"At 1410 local time, the crew of the tanker NS Africa ...

carried out an operation to rescue 19 sailors, among whom were

citizens of India, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Indonesia," SCF said

in a statement.

SCF added that the rescued seafarers were scheduled to

disembark in the Egyptian port of Suez on June 29 with none of

the crew missing or injured.

Lavant's operators could not be located for comment.

Maritime security sources said the vessel was unlikely to

have been targeted by Yemen's Houthis.

Iran-aligned Houthi militants first launched drone and

missile strikes on the trade route in November in what they say

is solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. In over 70 attacks,

they have sunk two vessels, seized another and killed at least

three seafarers.

It is unknown whether the Verbena cargo ship, which was

attacked by the Houthis earlier in June, was still afloat after

it was separately abandoned by its crew.

Dangers posed by ageing tankers hit by sanctions are among

other perils ships face.

Earlier this week the European Union imposed sanctions on

Sovcomflot (SCF), following the designation of 14 of its tankers

by Washington earlier this year that did not include the NS

Africa.

Sanctions on shipping companies are undermining safety at

sea and pose dangers for trade as ship standards are impacted,

SCF's CEO said in comments released on Tuesday.