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Ship's crew missing off Scotland

January 4, 2015

Rescue teams have as yet found no trace of eight missing crew members after a capsized cargo ship was spotted off the Scottish coast and then sank. The ship had not issued a distress signal.

https://p.dw.com/p/1EEuj
A handout picture provided by the British Royal National Lifeboat Intitution (RNLI) on 03 January 2015 shows the hull of an upturned cargo vessel off the coast of Northern Scotland, Britain, 03 January 2015
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/RNLI

Air and sea rescue teams on Sunday searched the area where a passing ferry had spotted the upturned hull of the bulk carrier Cemfjord on Saturday, trying to find any survivors from the eight-person crew.

The 83-meter (272-foot) ship had now sunk completely in the Pentland Firth area about 15 miles (24 kilometers) from the Scottish town of Wick.

"The vessel is no longer visible," a spokesperson for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said.

The Cemfjord's crew consisted of seven Polish sailors and one Filipino for the journey to deliver a load of cement from Aalborg in Denmark to Runcorn, near Liverpool on England's west coast.

The ship, sailing under the flag of Cyprus, was managed by the Hamburg-based shipping company Brise. It said the search efforts involved two helicopters and four lifeboats along with a navy vessel and fixed wing aircraft.

No trace

In a statement on their website Sunday, Brise said the search had been suspended for the night, though a coastguard tug would remain at the presumed position of the submerged ship.

"Despite the best efforts of the search teams, no trace has been found of the Cemfjord's crew," Brise said.

In an earlier statement, Brise had said the crew was missing "following a severe accident," adding that "no distress call was received from the vessel. Bad weather prevailed in the area at the time."

se/ipj (AP, AFP)