2 bodies found on ship with Ukrainian, Georgian crew
ANKARA - Agence France-Presse
DHA photo
Turkey's state-run news agency says divers have recovered the bodies of two of the eight missing crew members from a Cambodian-flagged freighter that sank off Turkey's Black Sea coast.The Anadolu Agency said the bodies, which were yet to be identified, were found inside the ship on Saturday.
The Vera was carrying 10 Ukrainians and one Georgian when it sank off the coast of Ereğli in stormy waters on Tuesday while sailing from Russia to Turkey's port of Aliağa with a load of scrap metal.
The ship's second and third officers and its cook were rescued but the other eight crew members, including the captain, were reported missing.
Divers have been hampered by high seas and poor underwater visibility, but they began searching the wreckage on Friday.
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 ship's cook Larysa Lukach. DHA photo
"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 today.
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.
