Russian freight ship sinks off Turkey's Black Sea coast - governor

The cause of the incident was not immediately clear. Guner said rescue operations were underway despite poor weather conditions in the area, which initially caused rescuers to struggle in reaching the crew members.

A Russian freight ship has sunk off the coast of Turkey's Black Sea province of Bartin, the local governor was cited as saying by state media on Sunday, adding that rescuers were working to save 15 crew members stranded at sea.

Bartin Governor Sinan Guner said the dry cargo ship, ARVIN, had sunk off the coast of the Inkumu region, adding there were no reports of casualties, according to the state-owned Anadolu news agency. He said three crew members had been rescued so far. The cause of the incident was not immediately clear.

Guner said rescue operations were underway despite poor weather conditions in the area, which initially caused rescuers to struggle in reaching the crew members. He added civilian ships had also been asked to help with rescue operations. He said lifeboats carrying the crew members could be seen 600-700 metres from the shore and that a Navy vessel had been deployed to reach them. "In case there is an opportunity to fly, we requested a helicopter," he said.