Five Turkish fishermen were killed when their small boat collided with the Greek suezmax tanker EPHESOS early this morning of Wednesday 11th November, 2020 approximately 15 nautical miles off the eastern coast of Turkey in the Adana province. The tanker remained on the scene of the accident and the Turkish Coast Guard Command responded with a search and rescue operation.
In a brief statement, the Turkish Coast Guard confirmed that it had dispatched four marine assets, a dive team, and an aircraft for aerial reconnaissance to the site. At first, they reported the recovery of four of the fishermen with one missing, but the missing person was later located also deceased. They reported that the fishing boat capsized after the crash, which happened at approximately 5:50 a.m. local time.
The Andriaki Shipping Co. of Greece also issued a brief statement confirming that the Greek flagged crude oil tanker EPHESOS which they manage, had been involved in the incident. According to the company, the 165,000 dwt tanker, had departed fully loaded from Ceyhan, Turkey, heading to Gibraltar. The master of the tanker reported that they were undertaking a search operation while also awaiting the arrival of the Turkish Coast Guard, which assumed control of the site on its arrival. The tanker crew was uninjured and the vessel has not suffered any damage they reported.
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Published – Wednesday 11th November, 2020.