November 27, Athens, Greece Due to strong winds, a cargo ship with 14 crew members, including Indian crew members, sunk off the shore of Lesbos Island in Greece. A significant rescue attempt is now underway, according to Al Jazeera.
Early on Sunday, the Comoros-flagged ship Raptor sunk 4.5 nautical miles (8.3 km) southwest of Lesbos while transporting a consignment of salt from Dekheila, Egypt to Istanbul.
According to a Greek coastguard cited by Al Jazeera, the search for the crew members has included the participation of five cargo ships, three Coast Guard boats, the air force, navy helicopters, and a naval frigate. However, up to this point, only one crew member has been saved.
The coast guard said that the crew member was rescued by a naval helicopter from the sea under gale force winds and sent to Lisbon General Hospital for medical attention.
The ship reported a technical issue around 7 am local time (05:00 GMT), according to Al Jazeera. However, by 8:20 am local time, the skipper had reported that the ship was tilting and had put out a Mayday distress call.
Authorities believe that the ship stopped and sank after it took on water because of the huge cargo soon after it vanished from the radar.
Al Jazeera stated that the crew of the ship consisted of Egyptian, Indian, and Syrian nationals, as reported by the Athens News Agency (ANA) citing the ship’s running firm located in Lebanon.
A significant gale to storm force was indicated by wind speeds of 9 to 10 on the Beaufort scale during the weekend, but the ships stayed moored in numerous locations of Greece. Wind strength is estimated using the Beaufort scale, which has a range of 0 to 12.
As Storm Oliver, also known as Bettina, proceeded from the Adriatic Sea into Greece on Saturday, the Hellenic National Meteorological Service (EMY) increased its emergency weather warning from “worsening weather” to “dangerous weather phenomena.”
Following a string of storms, the nation has seen recurrent flooding in recent months.
Cataclysmic rains unleashed by Storm Daniel earlier in September ravaged Central Greece, killing tens of thousands of farm animals and ruining crops throughout a huge region that is the center of Greece’s agricultural output, according to Al Jazeera. (ANI).
