Dry cargo ship with Ukrainians sinks off Romania

The Volgo Balt 179, a dry cargo ship with 13 Ukrainians on board sank in the Black Sea off the coast of Romania early on Thursday, March 11, the Offshore Engineer online news site has reported.

According to the report, Romanian offshore services company GSP Offshore said that its GSP Falcon offshore vessel had received a distress call from the cargo ship at 04:40 local time.

According to the Romanian news website Playtech, the cargo ship, which had been en route to the Romanian port of Constanta, sank 70 nautical miles off the coast in the Black Sea, most likely due to the very strong storm.

The Romanian company said the ship's crew consisted of 13 people, "12 men and a woman, all Ukrainian citizens."

According to the report, Grup Servicii Petroliere has currently rescued ten people who are in the hospital of the GSP Falcon ship and receive the necessary assistance. However, two people died. Another crew member is being searched for in the sea, and the rescue operation continues. After the rescue operation, the company will deliver the rescued sailors to the port of Constanta.

According to data from VesselsValue, the Volgo Balt 179 was built in 1973, with its current commercial controller being Seatrans Consulting, from Russia. At the same time, Russia's Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport denied reports that the ship is Russian.

The Ukrainian Embassy in Romania has not yet commented on the incident.

Photo: shipspotting.com