Two dead, eight missing after cargo ships collide off Greece
Baku, April 29 (AZERTAC). Two people drowned and eight are missing after two cargo ships collided off southwestern Greece early on Monday, the Greek coastguard said.
The drowned and missing crew was from the Pirireis, sailing under a Cook Islands flag, which was in a collision with the ConSouth carrier about 75 nautical miles off the islet of Sapienza, a coastguard official said.
The ConSouth, sailing under an Antigua-Barbuda flag, was not seriously damaged and its crew of 16 is safe.
"Pirireis had a crew of 17. The ConSouth ship recovered two drowned with eight still missing," said the official who declined to be named.
The official said two coastguard vessels, joined by a navy helicopter and a C-130 aircraft, and had launched search-and-rescue operations, assisted by five ships sailing in the area.
"The weather was fine, the sea was calm," Dimitris Kafantaris, mayor of the nearby coastal town of Pylos, told state-run TV Net. "Authorities are also checking to see if there was any pollution from the sinking."
The coastguard said the Pirireis, owned by Turkish shipping firm Emiroglu, was transporting fertilisers from Algeria to Ukraine.
A search and rescue operation is underway off the southern Peloponnese coast after two cargo ships collided. The bodies of two Syrian seafarers have been recovered, while at least eight are still missing. It was not immediately clear what caused the collision, in fair weather, on Monday morning, causing the fertizer-laden Piri Reis to sink.
Two seamen have died and at least eight are still missing after two cargo ships collided off the southern Peloponnese coast on Monday morning.
It was not immediately clear what caused the collision in fine weather between the Antigua-flagged ConSouth and the Cook Islands-flagged Piri Reis, which caused the fertizer-laden Piri Reis to sink.
The remains of two seaferers have been recovered by the crew of the Consouth and a search and rescue operation - involving coast guard vessels, merchant ships, a rescue helicopter and an airforce C-130 transport plane - is underway to locate the missing seamen, all Syrian.
A Merchant Marine Ministry statement says the accident occurred before 7am some 125km off the south coast of the Messinia prefecture, near the islet of Sapienza, opposite Methoni.
The Piri Reis, which was carrying a cargo of fertilizer from Algeria, to a Ukrainιan port, sank, and seven of its crew of 17 Syrian seamen were saved.
The ConSouth, which was sailing without freight from Turkey to Malta had 16 Russian, Filippino and Polish seamen on board, all who were unhurt.
"The weather was fine, the sea was calm," Dimitris Kafantaris, mayor of the nearby coastal town of Pylos, told state-run TV Net. "Authorities are also checking to see if there was any pollution from the sinking."
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