Filipino among missing from overturned ship off British coast

LONDON, United Kingdom – Lifeboat crews called off the search for the night Saturday, January 3, for the crew of an overturned cargo vessel spotted off the northeast tip of Britain.

Eight people were on board the Cypriot-registered Cemfjord, a cargo ship carrying cement, which capsized around 15 miles from Wick in northeast Scotland.

Brise of Hamburg, managers of the cement carrier, confirmed in a statement that the ship’s crew of 8 were missing “following a severe accident.”

“The crew consists of seven Polish seafarers and one Filipino mariner. The company is in the process of informing the families.” 

A passing ferry spotted the upturned hull at around 1430 GMT on Saturday.

Lifeboats, rescue helicopters, and other vessels were involved in the search.

The last-known position of the ship was at 1315 GMT on Friday, January 2.

“No distress call was received from the vessel. Bad weather prevailed in the area at the time and conditions remain difficult at the scene, with storm force winds,” according to Brise of Hamburg. 

Bill Farquhar, from the local lifeboat station, confirmed to the BBC that the weather had been bad and there was no mayday call.

“It is very, very strange, especially with all the weather technology we have nowadays,” he said.

He added: “Whatever happened, it happened very rapidly.”

Built in 1984, the 83-metre vessel successfully completed her classification renewal inspections during December, Brise said.

It was carrying a cargo of 2,000 tonnes of cement from Aalborg in Denmark to Runcorn near Liverpool on the northwest English coast, right round the top of Britain. It was due to arrive on Monday.

The search was to resume at first light Sunday. – Rappler.com