Three missing following cargo ship sinking off Romania

Three people have gone missing after a cargo vessel sank off the northern coast of Romania near the border with Ukraine on Saturday, May 18.

The Tanzanian-flagged, Turkish-owned Mohammed Z was underway some 26 nautical miles off Sfantu Gheorghe when it sank in the early morning hours (local time) of Saturday.

The ship had earlier departed Istanbul and was en route to the Romanian Black Sea port of Sulina at the time of the incident.

Some Romanian patrol boats and two Good Samaritan merchant vessels diverted to the area off Sfantu Gheorghe shortly after Mohammed Z‘s crew sent out a distress call at around 04:00.

The crew of one of the responding merchant vessels, the Comoros-flagged cargo ship Michel, successfully pulled eight survivors out of the water. One of the rescued sailors had suffered injuries and has since been brought to hospital.

Mohammed Z‘s crew at the time of the incident included two Egyptian and nine Syrian nationals. Among the latter are the three missing crewmembers.

The search and rescue effort launched in the wake of the incident had to be postponed on Saturday evening due to deteriorating visibility but was resumed the following morning at first light.

The cause of the sinking remains unknown.