Six weeks on from striking a mine in the Black Sea, the Kafkametler, a small Turkish-flagged general cargo ship, has gone down in stormy conditions with its 12 crew reported missing.
, a small Turkish-flagged general cargo ship, has gone down in stormy conditions with its 12 crew reported missing.The ship sent out a distress signal yesterday morning offf Eregli in the northwest of Turkey, a city that suffered massive flooding over the weekend with huge storms reported.
The dire weather meant search and rescue efforts were not possible yesterday and the authorities have not heard from the ship for 24 hours now.
The 31-year-old, 3,134 dwt ship struck a mine last month off the coast of Romania near the entrance to the Sulina Canal, sustaining minor damage.
The ship was transporting ferrosilicon from the Russian port of Temryuk to Aliaga in Turkey when it encountered severe storms over this past weekend.
The captain said in his last communication with authorities that the ship was drifting towards a breakwater off Eregli.
Another ship (see video below) registered in Cameroon broke in two due to violent waves off the coast of Eregli, after all its crew had been safely evacuated.
