Search for shipwrecked crew off Limassol

THE SEARCH continues to find the three missing crew members from the Farouk M, the Moldavian-flagged ship that sunk off the coast of Limassol on Sunday morning. A police helicopter, as well as navy and Port Police vessels, have joined the rescue mission, which successfully tracked down a rescue raft carrying seven shipwreck survivors.

There are, however, fears that the three crew members stayed on board the ship when it sank, as the shipwreck’s survivors gave reports that the three missing men did not board a rescue raft.

“According to the information we have until now, only the seven people who were found were aboard the rescue raft, and the three remaining people stayed on the ship. The search continues, but we cannot confirm if they are alive, or if they lie in the deep sea waters with the ship,” said Theocharis Christodoulou, Port Police Press Officer.

The commercial vessel left Alexandria, Egypt for Latakia, Syria last Friday, carrying 20 loads of ceramic plates. At 7.30am on Sunday, when the ship was 115 nautical miles south of Limassol, it gave out an SOS signal, which was received via satellite in Cyprus. A police helicopter was sent out a few hours later, but when it reached the specific location, its pilot saw only an oil leak and no ship, or survivors. The helicopter searched the area from 11am to 1pm but did not manage to find anything.

Then, a Port Police vessel, Thiseas, was sent to the rescue, setting off from Limassol Port in the afternoon. At approximately 6pm, when it reached a location of 99 nautical miles south of Limassol, Thiseas tracked down Farouk’s rescue raft and the seven surviving crew. The seven Egyptian sailors are in good health and were checked in to a Limassol hotel.

Patrol ships continue to search the area in a bid to track down the remaining three crew members, who are also Egyptian. According to international regulations, the search must continue until it is evident that there are no survivors.