site.btaUPDATED Three Members of Stranded Foreign Tanker's Crew Evacuated off Coast of Ahtopol

Three members of the crew of the tanker stranded by Ahtopol have been evacuated, the Navy Commander, Rear Admiral Kiril Mihaylov, told a news conference here on Sunday. More of the ten-member crew are about to be evacuated, he added.

The Defence Ministry said in a press release shortly after that a crew from the Navy with a Panther helicopter provided assistance to the sailors on Kairos. At 1:50 p.m. on Sunday, the helicopter took off from the Chaika base. Despite the bad weather conditions, at around 2:20 p.m., the military personnel delivered water, food, and communication equipment to the tanker. The crew took off again at 4:06 p.m. to deliver a fuel generator to the tanker and evacuate three sailors who had reported that they were not in good health. 

The Transport Ministry said in a press release that after landing in Varna, medical assistance was provided to the three sailors to assess their health condition. At the request of the shipowner, a new operation will be organized Monday morning to evacuate four more sailors, while three people will remain on board.

A meeting with the Ambassador of the Republic of Turkiye to Bulgaria is scheduled for Monday to clarify all the circumstances surrounding the abandonment of the tanker in Bulgarian territorial waters, the Transport Ministry said.

On Friday, a tanker flying a foreign flag ran aground off the coast of Ahtopol, on the Black Sea. Evacuation efforts for the ten-member crew were delayed because of the bad weather on Saturday. According to information provided by Rumen Nikolov, head of the Emergency Rescue Operations Directorate at the Maritime Administration Executive Agency, the stranded tanker is owned by a Chinese company. Currently, she is empty of cargo and is located about 700-800 metres off the coast of Ahtopol. The ship is stable and there is no danger to either the crew or the environment, he added. 

He also said that diplomatic channels must be used to establish why the tanker was brought into Bulgaria's territorial waters. He pointed out that an answer to this question could be obtained after contact with the Turkish authorities. The information that was previously announced that the Bulgarian authorities were not aware of the situation is untrue, the expert added. According to him, the tanker was being monitored along with the Turkish ship Timur Bey that was towing it. The Bulgarian authorities also saw the two ships separate in Bulgarian territorial waters; the Turkish ship then returned south while the tanker, carried by the waves and wind, headed towards the Bulgarian coast. In response to questions, Nikolov said that the sailors on board were unable to say why the Turkish tugboat had stopped towing the ship. "Such information could be available to the captain or one of the officers, but they are not there. The details will be clarified once the weather allows representatives of the Bulgarian authorities to board the ship," Nikolov stressed. 

The Environment and Water Ministry confirmed on Sunday that the regular monitoring of water quality in the Black Sea has not detected any pollution. Also, the Black Sea Basin Directorate (BSBD) - Varna has deployed measuring devices and taken samples between Sozopol and Rezovo to provide data on the condition of the seawater. If deviations are found or if pollution is detected, follow-up actions will be taken, about which the public will be informed in a timely manner, the Ministry said.