Cargo ship sinks off Turkish coast in Mediterranean

ANTALYA – Doğan News Agency

A cargo ship named “Tayyar Şenkaya 1,” with 11 crew members on board, sank at 4 a.m. in the Mediterranean sea off the coast of Antalya in southern Turkey. DHA Photo

Some 11 members of crew have been rescued after a cargo ship went down in the Mediterranean Sea, according to maritime authorities.

A cargo ship named “Tayyar Şenkaya 1,” with 11 crew members on board, sank at 4 a.m. in the Mediterranean sea off the coast of Antalya in southern Turkey.

Eleven people have been rescued from the wreck, the authorities said, while the ship went down completely.

The ship, which was carrying a cargo of steel roll, probably sank due to damage caused by inadequately fixed cargo at the bottom of the ship, the second captain said.

“Probably the unfixed steel hit the ship’s body; we checked the lockers and saw that they were filling with water. We immediately became alarmed and woke the sleeping crew and asked for help,” second captain Ersoy Şakar said.

A Maltese flagged ship named “Gabustan” arrived at the point where the ship sank and helped the crew before the official rescue teams’ arrival.

The Antalya coast guard dispatched rescue services. The ship had been travelling from Turkey’s popular resort of Istanbul to the southeastern port of Mersin.