Cargo ship sinks with 14 aboard off Greece’s Lesbos

A Comoros-flagged cargo ship with 14 people on board has sunk off the island of Lesbos in gale-force winds, the Greek coast guard said Sunday prompting a major rescue operation.

Ert state-run television reported that a navy helicopter had picked up one crew member.

Five cargo ships, three coast guard vessels, air force and navy helicopters as well as a navy frigate had joined the rescue effort.

The state-run Athens News Agency (ANA) reported that the cargo ship had 14 crew members and was loaded with salt.

Citing the coastguard, ANA said it went down 4.5 nautical miles (8.3 kilometres) southwest of Lesbos early Sunday.

The ship had sailed from Dekheila, Egypt, heading for Istanbul.

The crew members include two Syrian nationals, four Indians and eight Egyptians, ANA said.

Ships had remained in dock across several parts of Greece on Saturday with wind speeds reaching 9-10, a strong gale to storm force, on the Beaufort scale.

An emergency weather warning by the Hellenic National Meteorological Service (EMY) had been upgraded on Saturday from “worsening weather” to “dangerous weather phenomena”, as Storm Oliver (also called Bettina) moved from the Adriatic Sea toward Greece.