Following the sinking of a ship in turbulent winds off Lesbos in the Aegean, Greek rescuers are on a mission to locate 12 missing individuals. Unfortunately, one crew member has been found dead, while another has been successfully rescued.
At 7:00 pm (1700 GMT), the most recent helicopter mission reached the wreck site, as seven vessels, including a coastguard vessel and a frigate, continue their overnight search in the area, as stated by the Greek coastguard to AFP.
Earlier, the body of a man was found and subsequently brought to the port of Mytilene, the capital of Lesbos, as indicated in an official statement.
In the early hours, a navy helicopter carried out a successful rescue, retrieving a crew member from the Comoros-flagged Raptor cargo ship and transporting them alive to Lesbos General Hospital.
The man, identified as an Egyptian, was reportedly discovered floating on a barrel, as per the ERT state-run news website, and remarkably, he was in good health despite head wounds.
‘He is in a state of shock,’ coastguard spokesman Nikos Alexiou had told AFP.
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As darkness set in, the fate of the remaining 12 individuals became unclear, and optimism for their situation was diminishing.
The Raptor, carrying 14 crew members and a shipment of salt, capsized 4.5 nautical miles southwest of Lesbos, adjacent to the Turkish coast, in the early hours of Sunday, according to official statements.
The vessel, measuring 106 meters (348 feet) and built in 1984, commenced its journey from Dekheila, Egypt, with Istanbul as its destination.
Quoting the vessel’s operating company in Lebanon, the Athens News Agency (ANA) stated that the crew was composed of 11 Egyptians, two Syrians, and one Indian. According to authorities, the vessel alerted about a mechanical failure at 7:00 am local time.
According to official sources, the ship communicated a mechanical failure at 7:00 am local time.
The captain, at 8:20 am, conveyed that the ship was listing, initiated a distress signal with a “mayday,” and then disappeared from the radar, according to Alexiou’s statement to AFP.
ANA reported that the heavily laden vessel is believed to have encountered water ingress in the hold because of powerful waves, resulting in its listing and sinking.
Media sources reported that the ship held a load of 6,000 tonnes of salt.