Two Killed, Four Missing as Cargo Ship Sinks in Black Sea Off Turkey

Photo: MarineTraffic.com/Mehmet Guney

At least two people are dead and four others were missing after a Panamanian-flagged bulk carrier sank in the Black Sea off Turkey’s coast on Monday.

The Turkish Coast Guard received up a distress signal from the ship Volga-Balt 214 with 13 crew members on Monday morning as it was approximately 80 miles off the coast of Samsun in northern Turkey.

Search and rescue crews arrived on scene and were able to rescue seven crew members from the water. So far the bodies of two have been recovered.

?limizde Batan Gemi ile ilgili :
Kurtarma çal??malar?nda an itibariyle canl? olarak kurtar?lan mürettebat say?s? toplam 7 olup 2 mürettebat?nda cans?z bedeni ekiplerimiz taraf?ndan denizden al?nm??t?r.Kurtarma faaliyeti devam etmektedir @osmankaymk pic.twitter.com/ybO1vDpS7T

— T.C. Samsun Valili?i (@TCSamsunValilik) January 7, 2019

The crew consisted of nine Ukraine nationals, two Azerbaijan nationals and two Russians, the Samsun governor’s office said.

The vessel was reportedly sailing from to Samsun from the Russian port of Azov with a cargo of coal.

The cause of the sinking is unknown at this time, but media reports indicate that weather may have been a factor.