Cargo ship sinks off Turkish coast, 10 missing
People walk on the Karakoy landing and Galata bridge in Istanbul on January 31 after a snowfall. Heavy snow blanketed Turkey’s commercial hub, paralysing daily life and disrupting air, land and sea transport.
Turkish coast guards are searching for 10 people after a dry cargo ship sank off the country’s Black Sea coast.
The Cambodia-registered ship “Vera," which was sailing from Russia to the Turkish Aegean port of Aliaga and transporting iron, sank during a storm one mile off the Zonguldak port, Reuters reported.
The 10 missing are believed to be Polish crew members, according to the BBC. Two other crew members were rescued during the search operation and taken to the hospital.
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Extreme weather and snow storms have hit Turkey over the past week. Today’s accident occurred some 10 days after another cargo ship was pulled ashore by authorities after brushing against two anchored vessels during severe weather off the coast of Istanbul, according to the Associated Press.
Irfan Erdem, head of the region’s Chamber of Commerce, told Turkish NTV television that by the time the coast guard had arrived in response to the Vera’s distress call it had already sunk.
A storm likely caused the ship’s cargo to shift, he said, tilting the vessel and resulting it in taking on water.
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