The bulk carrier Geroi Arsenala sank in the Black Sea in the early hours of April 19 near the Kerch Strait in the territorial waters of Russian-annexed Crimea, with eight of its 12 crew still missing.
The cargo ship’s crew included nine Ukrainians, two Russians, and one Georgian. As of noon of April 19, two crew members had been rescued, alive but suffering from hypothermia. Two more were found dead.
The ship, a river-sea type cargo vessel belonging to Turkish transportation company US Deepblue Shipping Inc., was heading from Russias’ Azov sea port in Rostov-On-Don Oblast to Turkey, according to the Sea Transport Workers Association of Ukraine.
The crew sent an SOS signal at about 3 a.m. and the ship disappeared from radar soon after.
The rescue operation is being conducted by the Russian occupation authorities in the Ukrainian territory of Crimea. The continuing storm is hindering the rescue efforts, according to reports.
One sailor was rescued in the morning, and three more at noon. The Russian River and Sea Fleet told Russia’s TASS news agency that the first rescued man was Ukrainian, a motor mechanic of the ship. There is no information about the nationality of the second rescued sailor, or the ones found dead.
Vasyl Kyrylych, the head of the Consulate Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine told the Kyiv Post that he didn’t know the fate of the Ukrainian crew members as the rescue operation was continuing.
TASS reported that the vessel originally belonged to the Ukrainian River Fleet but was sold to US Deepblue Shipping in 2013.
According to Vesselfinder.com, an online cargo vessel tracking service, the last time the position of the Geroi Arsenala was recorded was at 4 p.m. on April 18. The ship was at that time several kilometers off the Crimean cost, bound for Turkey.
Cargo ship Geroi Arsenala latest position shown on Vesselfinder online locator map.
