ODESA, MARCH 6th, 2013, CONTEXT-PRICHERNOMORIE ― Cargo ship holding a course from Turkey to Kherson has sunk off the Odesa region coast, Context-Prichernomorie correspondent reports.

The Head of the Centre of Public Relations of the Main Department of the State Emergency Service in the Odesa region Sergiy Didkovskiy reported today, 6 March, during the phone conversation.

The vessel under the Moldova flag “Nikolay Bauman” was holding a course from Turkey to Kherson, carrying on board nearly three thousand tons of gypsum. Cargo ship has almost reached the point of destination, as the unexpected happened ― ship was listed and went down. The incident occurred in the area of Starostambulskiy delta arm of Danube near Chilia, Odesa region. Distress call from the captain was on the border of Romania and Ukraine. According to preliminary data, there were eleven people on the board. All crew members are citizens of Moldova. The sailors were evacuated by boat of the rescue-and-recovery service. There were no injuries among the crew. Sailors were taken to the nearest town Vilkovo. The reasons of the leaking of the hull have not been established”, Mr Didkovskiy noted.