22nd body recovered after ferry sinking off Kyrenia
A 22nd body has been recovered off Kyrenia following the August 30 ferry sinking, with six people still missing and nine suspects remaining in custody.
Kyrenia, Cyprus. A 22nd body has been recovered from the sea off Kyrenia as searches continue following the sinking of a passenger ferry in August, Turkish Cypriot leader Unal Ustel said on Tuesday. Efforts are underway to identify the body, while six people remain unaccounted for.
Search continues after August 30 sinking
The ferry sank shortly after midday on August 30 after departing from Kyrenia’s new port for the Turkish port of Tasucu. It was carrying 259 passengers and eight crew members.
Nine remain in custody
Nine people were arrested following the sinking: the captain, identified as Mustafa Oz, seven crew members and a representative of the ferry’s operating company, Filo Denizcilik. All nine remain in custody and most recently appeared in court on Friday.
At an earlier hearing, the court was told that a crack had appeared on the side of the ferry almost two months before it sank. Photographs recovered from the first mate’s mobile phone indicated that repairs were carried out on June 17.
The court heard that Oz and the crew carried out the repairs at a port in Cyprus without informing the Turkish Cypriot authorities, despite Oz and Filo Denizcilik being required to notify them.
Questions over seaworthiness certification
The repairs took place 15 days after Istanbul-based ship classification firm Turk Loydu certified the ferry as seaworthy.
The certificate issued by Turk Loydu states that it is valid until 2029, but the firm’s online database lists it as “invalid”. It remains unclear whether the certificate was declared invalid before or after the ferry sank on August 30.
The Cyprus Mail has contacted Turk Loydu. Turkish Cypriot police said last month that they were also awaiting a response from the firm about the procedures followed during the ferry’s examination.
Turkish Cypriot transport official Faiz Sucuoglu had suggested that the ferry was involved in an unreported “minor accident” before it sank, asking: “What fault does Turk Loydu have here?”
However, a police representative told the court on Friday that “no such evidence has been found”.
This news item was generated automatically by Cyprus Inform from publicly available materials. Report an error →