ISTANBUL: At least two crew members died after a cargo ship sank in bad weather in the Black Sea off Turkey on Sunday, local officials said.

Five seamen from among the 13 on board the bulk carrier Arvin have been rescued and an operation is continuing to find the others, said Sinan Guner, governor of northern Turkey’s Bartin province.

“Five people have been rescued and two bodies recovered,” Guner said, quoted by the Anadolu news agency.

Ukraine foreign ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko confirmed that the ship was owned by a Ukrainian firm, and tweeted that five of his countrymen and one “foreigner” had been rescued so far.

“They were hospitalised, their condition is satisfactory,” he wrote.

The vessel was heading for Bulgaria from Georgia when it sank in bad weather.

Powerful gusts of wind and snow flurries were reported Sunday in the area where the ship sank, conditions which could limit vessels’ visibility and manoeuvrability.

Guner said the weather conditions were also hampering rescue efforts.

The Turkish defence ministry said a frigate had been mobilised to help with the rescue operation.

In January 2019, six crew died when a Panama-flagged cargo ship sank in the Black Sea off Turkey.

Two years earlier, a Russian spy vessel sank in the Black Sea after colliding with a cargo ship carrying cattle. All crew were rescued.

Published in Dawn, January 18th, 2021