Ankara: A dry cargo ship sank off the Black Sea coast of Turkey Tuesday and eight members of the 11-strong Polish crew were missing, Turkish media said.
The Cambodian-registered dry cargo ship Vera was sailing from Russia to the Turkish Aegean port of Aliaga and sank in a storm one mile off the coast of the Black Sea port of Zonguldak, CNN Turk said.
Three members of the crew were saved and taken to hospital, the television channel said, but coast guards and police were still searching for the eight others.
Turkey has been hit by extreme weather and snow storms over the past week. There were gale warnings Tuesday for parts of the Marmara, Black Sea and Aegean, a shipping agent said.
The Bosphorus Straits, a key shipping route passing through the city of Istanbul, was closed to all vessels Tuesday because of poor visibility caused by a snowstorm, coast guard officials said.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, February 01, 2012, 13:02