Second deep-sea rescue vessel due off Kyrenia as ferry search continues

Kyrenia, Cyprus. A second deep-sea rescue vessel is expected to arrive in waters off Kyrenia on Wednesday as searches continue for a ferry that sank off Cyprus’ northern coast on Sunday, Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman said on Tuesday. Twenty people remain unaccounted for.

Rescue vessels join search

The TCG Alemdar, reportedly capable of searching at depths of up to 3,000 metres, will join the TCG Isin, which arrived in waters off Kyrenia on Tuesday morning.

Addressing families waiting outside Kyrenia’s new port for a third consecutive day, Erhurman said the TCG Isin had arrived and had “the most advanced technology currently available in the world”.

He said the TCG Alemdar would also provide support but cautioned that the search for the ferry would be a slow process.

“Hopefully, we will be able to provide you with information at a certain point today. If we do not achieve the desired results today it does not mean we are giving up. Operations will continue tomorrow with the support of the second ship,” he said.

“Our entire focus right now is on reaching the sunken vessel at depth and bringing everything we can to the surface.”

Black box and sinking accounts

Authorities hope to recover the ferry’s black box, while conflicting accounts continue over the circumstances that led to the sinking.

The ferry’s captain, 67-year-old Mustafa Oz, told a court on Monday that waves broke the front off the vessel, according to the north’s ‘transport minister’ Erhan Arikli.

Passengers who were aboard the ferry said it had begun taking on water almost immediately after leaving the port at midday on Sunday. Some said they asked Oz to return to Kyrenia, but that he refused.