A Russian Navy surveillance ship has sunk after colliding with a freighter in the Black Sea, according to Turkish officials.
“Turkey’s coastal safety authority says that a Russian navy reconnaissance ship has sunk off Istanbul after colliding with a freighter. All of the Russian sailors are safe, reported the Associated Press.
“Authorities say that all 78 personnel on the Russian vessel Liman are accounted for after it collided with the Togo-flagged freighter Youzarsif H. in the Black Sea. The safety authority says 15 Russian sailors had been rescued after the collision.”
The Russian ship was the surveillance vessel Liman, which had returned from a three-month deployment off the coast of Syria in February.
“On April 27 at 11:53 Moscow time, in the southwestern part of the Black Sea, 40 kilometers northwest of the Bosphorus Strait, the research vessel of the Black Sea Fleet, the Liman, as a result of a collision with the Ashot-7 vessel… received a starboard hole below the waterline. No one was injured among the crew. The crew… are fighting for the survivability of the vessel,” read the statement as reported in Russian media.
The Russians have sortied ships in the Black Sea and deployed an Antonov An-26
The Turkish Coast Guard has also deployed assets to assist with the rescue.
“All crew members of the research ship of the Black Sea Fleet are alive and well and are currently preparing for evacuation from the Turkish rescue ship to a Russian ship,” the Defense Ministry said.
