At least nine crew members went missing as a cargo ship capsized in storm off the Turkish coast on Tuesday, the local coast guard service said, according to RIA Novosti.
Three crew members have been rescued so far. One died while being air-lifted to safety, local media reported. The search for the other missing crew members is ongoing.
The Volgo Balt 199 vessel, with a crew comprising 11 Ukrainians and one Russian, sank off Istanbul’s Black Sea coast near Sile on Tuesday.
The ship, owned by the Solna Maritime Company, was carrying coal from Russia to southern Turkey.
The rescue operation was hampered by stormy weather in the Sea of Marmara, Turkey's NTV television reported.
A severe storm hit Istanbul on Monday, ferry services in the Bosphorous Strait were suspended.
