Cargo ship sinks off Andros island – Freighter blacklisted?

A Turkish-owned cargo ship ran aground and sank just 180 meter off one of the northern shores of the island of Andros in the Aegean Sea early on Wednesday.

All crew members – eight Turkish nationals and one Azerbaijani – were rescued.

The Greek Coast Guard launched a rescue operation after the cargo ship issued a mayday call at around 0100 GMT reporting that it had run aground and was taking in ‌water.

Greece deployed ​three Coast Guard vessels and a helicopter, while a passenger ferry was tasked with locating the sinking freighter.

Two crew members were rescued ‌from the sea and seven from a rocky area on Andros. The all are reportedly in “good ‌health” ⁠and were taken to the health center of the island.

The Vanuatu-flagged freighter “Corsage ⁠C” had left Albania with 3,000 metric tons of baking soda ⁠on board and was bound ⁠for Ukraine.

Wile it was not initially clear what caused the vessel to run aground, later Greek media reported that the captain told authorities he had fallen asleep.

Two ⁠anti-pollution Coast Guard vessels ‌and another ⁠two carrying anti-pollution equipment have preemptively deployed a floating sea barrier as authorities are concerned about potential fuel leakage.

Greek authorities investigate the issue.

Meanwhile, Skai TV claimed on its 2 o’ clock news that the freighter was blacklisted by the U.S. authorities and that it may have carrying next to soda also drugs or weapons.