Six weeks on from
striking a mine in the Black Sea, the Kafkametler,
a small Turkish-flagged general cargo ship, has gone down in stormy conditions
with its 12 crew reported missing.
The ship sent out a
distress signal yesterday morning offfEregli in the northwest of Turkey, a city
that suffered massive flooding over the weekend with huge storms reported.
The dire weather meant search and rescue efforts
were not possible yesterday (19 Nov) and the authorities have not heard from
the ship for 24 hours now.
The 31-year-old, 3,134 dwt ship struck
a mine last month off the coast of Romania near the entrance to the Sulina Canal,
sustaining minor damage.
The ship was
transporting ferrosilicon from the Russian port of Temryuk to Aliaga in Turkey
when it encountered severe storms over this past weekend.
The captain said in
his last communication with authorities that the ship was drifting towards a
breakwater off Eregli.