02-02-2012 12:11:29

Ukrainians, Georgian missing after ship sinks off Turkish coast

Turkish coast guards rescued three crew members from a Cambodian-registered cargo ship that sank in a Black Sea storm, and were searching for eight others still missing today, officials said, Hurriyet reported.

Local people had reported seeing life jackets and lights in the waters off the port of Ereğli in the northern province of Zonguldak, where the ship went down. Zonguldak governor Erol Ayyıldız said they had not given up hope of finding them.

"The bulk carrier tried to get to the port of Ereğli because of the bad weather conditions, but started to take on water beforehand and sank in two or three minutes," Zonguldak Ayyıldız told Anatolia news agency.

All three sailors rescued -- Ukrainians second-in-command Eduard Pavlenko, third-in-command Pavlo Selimanov and the ship's female cook Larysa Lukach -- were in good health, he added.

"The survivors say they saw the other member of the crew throw themselves in the water," Ayyıldız added.

"We still have hopes of saving eight people. We are dealing with people used to the sea, they have experience of this kind of situation." A helicopter was due to join the search for survivors Wednesday.

The Vera, a 114-meter vessel, was carrying scrap metal from the Russian port of Rostov to Izmir, on Turkey's west coast. It sank Tuesday evening at around 1730 GMT off Ereğli, Anatolia reported.

The crew was made up of 10 Ukrainians and a Georgian.

TAGS: Turkish coast guards, Cambodian-registered cargo ship, Black Sea storm, Ereğli, Zonguldak, Erol Ayyıldız, Eduard Pavlenko, Pavlo Selimanov, Larysa Lukach