Bulgaria calls on Turkey to help save shipwreck survivors

Russian boat sinks in Black Sea but sent no SOS

A rescue worker stands on board a ship near Cape Emine, Bulgaria, yesterday, as seven Bulgarian vessels and a helicopter take part in the rescue operation.

SOFIA (Reuters) – Bulgaria called on Turkey to help it rescue two survivors adrift on a life raft yesterday after a North Korean-registered cargo ship with 10 crew on board sank in rough waters in the Black Sea, Bulgarian authorities said.

Two of the crew, which consisted of one Russian and nine Ukrainian seamen, sent a text message to a family member in Ukraine late on Saturday, said Nikolay Apostolov, head of Bulgaria’s Maritime Administration Agency.

Rescuers managed to talk to one of the survivors yesterday morning, but had not found the two men yet as they most probably were in Turkish territorial waters or on the Turkish Black Sea coast, Apostolov said.

“We sent an official request to Ankara for Turkey to take part in the rescue operations and let our ships into their waters,” he said.

The Tolstoy, which carried 2,500 tons of scrap metal and was sailing from Russia to Turkey, sank early on Saturday some 12 miles off Cape Emine on Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast. It issued no SOS call, officials said.

Seven Bulgarian ships and a helicopter were taking part in the rescue operations on Sunday but had not found any other survivors so far. Rescuers have also not found any bodies.

Efforts to save the crew were hampered by stormy conditions on Saturday.

The vessel was owned by a Ukrainian company and sailed under the North Korean flag, Bulgarian authorities said.