• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Hopes fade for missing crew in Aegean ship collision

Posted on: Friday, 2 June 2006, 05:57 CDT

By Karolos Grohmann

ATHENS (Reuters) - Hopes of finding five missing crew of a Turkish-operated cargo ship that sank after colliding with a Greek tanker in the Aegean Sea, were fading on Friday after fruitless night-long rescue efforts, officials said.

The Morocco-bound, Panamanian registered "Han" cargo ship, which was operated by a Turkish ship owner and had a crew of 13, collided on Thursday with a Greek tanker off the island of Hydra, killing one Turkish sailor.

Authorities said it appeared that the collision was an accident. The tanker safely plucked seven Turkish crew from the sea as well as the body of the Turkish sailor.

Several rescue helicopters, coastguard vessels and dozens of fishing boats worked through the night some 16 nautical miles southeast of the island, to locate the cargo ship's missing five crew members.

"They have not yet found anything," a Greek Merchant Marine Ministry official told Reuters. "Hopes of finding them alive are fading quickly despite this very big rescue operation that has been ongoing for almost 24 hours."

The cause of the collision was not known but Greek officials said the Greek tanker, which had left the nearby oil refinery of Agii Theodori, had blown its horn to warn the cargo ship of the imminent collision but the ship did not change course.

The Greek ministry official said the crash had not caused any oil leak.

Source: REUTERS

More News in this Category