Crew of Turkish cargo ship sinking in Adriatic Sea rescued

The crew on board a Turkish cargo ship has been saved after the vessel started to sink near the island of Jabuka in the Adriatic Sea on Sunday.

Water started to enter the engine room in the early hours of the morning, and a joint rescue operation was initiated by the Croatian and Italian sea rescue operation centers.

The captain chose to remain onboard the vessel with four other crew members as long as it is possible. The remaining eight crew members were evacuated with the help of Italy's "Valcadorea" tanker and brought to Croatia's port of Split.

The “Haksa” ship is 85 meters in length and was carrying 13 crew members, 11 of whom were Turkish nationals and two who were Indian nationals.

The vessel was carrying 3,000 tons of sinter magnetite and contains approximately 70 tons of fuel and lubricants in the ship’s tanks.