BARTIN, Turkey

Search and rescue efforts are ongoing for three people who went missing after a Palau-flagged dry cargo ship sank off Turkey's Black Sea coast on Jan.17.

The ship, named Arvin, en route from Georgia to Bulgaria, sank off the Inkumu Coast of the northern Bartin province.

So far, six out of the 12 crew members -- all Ukrainian nationals -- have been rescued. The bodies of three others have been recovered.

The search by land and sea continues with fishermen also volunteering to help.

* Writing by Jeyhun Aliyev from Ankara