site.btaTowing of Stranded Tanker Near Ahotopol Begins

The towing of the stranded tanker Kairos near Ahtopol has begun Monday morning, with the 276-metre long vessel to be towed into the Bay of Burgas.

A generator was delivered on Sunday, restoring the power supply to the vessel's two anchors.

The Gambian-flagged oil tanker Kairos, owned by a Chinese company, ran aground off the Black Sea town of Ahtopol on December 5 with a ten-member crew on board, after the Turkish tugboat Timur Bey, which had been towing it, detached from the vessel in Bulgarian territorial waters and returned south. Since then, the Defence Ministry, the Transport and Communications Ministry and the Maritime Administration Executive Agency have coordinated rescue operations: Navy Panther helicopters have delivered food, water, communications equipment and a generator to the ship and evacuated most of the crew in stages, while several seafarers have remained on board at the shipowner’s request. Environmental and maritime authorities say the tanker, which is empty of cargo and lies some 700–800 metres from shore, is stable and there is no oil pollution.