All Russian naval personnel rescued from sunken ship return to their country

ISTANBUL

REUTERS photo

All of the rescued Russian naval personnel on board of an intelligence ship that sank off Turkey’s Black Sea coast on April 27 after colliding with a vessel carrying livestock, have returned to Russia by plane, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported.

All 78 rescued personnel arrived at Istanbul’s Atatürk International Airport accompanied with convoys late on April 27. All personnel returned to Russia with a plane sent from the country.

A Turkish boat informed the Turkish General Staff about the problems with the Russian ship, the Liman, which sank after colliding with a vessel carrying livestock, before the naval vessel issued a distress call. The General Staff immediately dispatched tugboats and fast rescue vessels to the area. 

Russian personnel were first taken aboard a Turkish merchant ship before all rescued personnel were transferred to a Russian one.

Russia also dispatched ships from its Black Sea fleet and an An-26 plane. 
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım spoke with his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, by phone at 7:00 p.m., expressing his sadness over the incident, Doğan News Agency has reported. Meanwhile, Medvedev expressed his gratitude for rescuing all the 78 personnel from the collision.

Meanwhile, the Togo-flagged freighter Youzarsif H. was given permission to sail to Romania as it was carrying livestock. The decision was made due to the health condition of the animals on the ship, according to officials.  
The Togo-flagged livestock carrier was built in 1977 and has a capacity of 2,418 tons, according to Thomson Reuters shipping data.

It is managed by Nejem Co. Marine Services, according to the data. 

Transport Minister Ahmet Arslan confirmed that all Russian personnel were rescued safely, saying that the cause of the collision was due to foggy weather condition.   

The Russian naval intelligence ship, identified as Liman, sank 29 kilometers away from Kilyos on the Black Sea coast just north of Istanbul on April 27.

The collision was caused due to fog and low visibility, the Turkish shipping agency GAC said.

The Bosphorus, which cuts through Istanbul, is one of the world’s most important waterways for transit of oil and grains. The 31-kilometer waterway connects the Black Sea to the Marmara on the way to the Mediterranean.