1 crew member dead after Turkish-flagged cargo ship runs aground, 11 missing

ZONGULDAK, Türkiye

The body of a crew member on a Turkish-flagged ship was found on Monday after contact was lost with the vessel in a storm off the country's northern coast, authorities in Türkiye said.

Contact with the Kafkametler, a cargo ship with 12 Turkish crew members, was lost while it was in the southern Black Sea on Sunday when ran aground off the province of Zonguldak due to "adverse weather and sea conditions," Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya had said in a statement.

Air, sea, and land-based search and rescue efforts began immediately after weather conditions improved, with the country's Directorate General of Maritime Affairs saying on X hours later that the body of a crew was found on the coast of Eregli, a district of the same province.

"Search and rescue operations for the other seafarers on board the sunken ship are ongoing," the directorate general added.

Yerlikaya had said that the dry cargo ship had sunk after drifting and colliding with a breakwater amid the storm. It had departed from Zonguldak and was en route to the Aegean province of Izmir, he said.

Abdulkadir Uraloglu, the country's minister of transport, said in a news conference that the Kafkametler had issued an emergency call at around 10.00 a.m. local time (0700GMT).

"Despite monitoring by various authorities, intervention was not possible due to harsh conditions. Based on images, it was determined that the ship had sunken, and the lifeless body of one crew member has been recovered. Search operations for the remaining crew members are ongoing," Uraloglu said.

Coast guard and coastal safety forces are currently involved in search and rescue operations, along with disaster teams, divers, gendarmerie, and police with the support of a helicopter, a plane, and two maritime vessels.