Ship under Tanzanian flag sinks near Romanian coast, three sailors dead

A ship navigating under the Tanzanian flag sank on Saturday morning, May 18, in the Black Sea, after colliding with another 26 nautical miles from the Romanian coast. Eight crew members were rescued, but three were reported missing. At the time this news was published, the searches were suspended.

The representatives of the Constanţa Court of Appeal Prosecutor's Office announced that the sinking of the ship under the Tanzanian flag in the Black Sea, near Sfântu Gheorghe, occurred following a collision with another ship, which is now in the Bulgarian port of Varna.

The magistrates have initiated criminal proceedings in the case for destroying or damaging a ship or its cargo and for "the act of the commander or another crew member who, after a navigation accident, orders or causes the ship to leave the scene," according to News.ro.

Romania’s MRCC (Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre) coordinated rescue operations when the alert came in, at around 4:00 AM. The sunken ship, Mohammed Z, flying the Tanzanian flag, had 11 crew members on board, 9 Syrian and 2 Egyptian nationals. Eight of them were rescued by the commercial ship Michel, with which the Mohammed Z collided.

Romania’s Defense Ministry assigned several ships and a helicopter to the area to help with the search.

"An IAR 330 Puma helicopter, from the Romanian Air Force, is conducting a sea search mission on Saturday, May 18, for possible survivors of the sunken ship's crew, which sank this morning in the Black Sea," representatives of the Ministry of National Defense stated, cited by Digi24.

The eight sailors rescued arrived at Constanța Port and underwent medical evaluations. Only one was transported to Constanța County Hospital for further medical investigations due to his injuries.

Witnesses say that the sunken ship did not yield priority to the other, leading to the collision.

"There was a collision between two ships. One of the ships sank, and the other ship, after helping to rescue some of the crew members, headed towards Bulgaria, specifically to the port of Varna,” said Mihaela Elena Mergeane, Chief Prosecutor of the Constanța Court of Appeal.