Ephesos

The 'Ephesos' was granted a sailing permission, and it heaved its anchor on Nov 15. The technical part of the inspection has been completed by attending surveyors, and the initial part of the legal investigation has also been completed by the public prosecutor and Harbour master. The vessel headed for Gibraltar with an ETA as of Nov 21.

On Nov 11, 2020, at 5.50 a.m. the Turkish f/v ’Polat Bey’ (MMSI: 271073177) with a crew of five on board was in collision with the 'Ephesos' which was enroute from the BTC Terminal Ceyhan to Gibraltar, about 15 nautical miles off the Karataş-district of Adana in pos. 36 18 12 N, 35 13 30 E. The ship capsized after being hit and drifted bottom up in the sea when fellow fishermen approached it and jumped onto the keel in order to rescue their colleagues. The Master of the tanker initiated a search operation, waiting for the arrival of the Turkish Coast Guard. The Turkish Coastguard launched a search with three patrol boats and a diver team. Four of them were recovered dead by Coastguard divers, the fifth, the master Metin Büten, was initially missing, but later in the day recovered too. The bodies of the fishermen were sent to the Adana Forensic Medicine Institute for autopsy. The 'Ephesos' dropped anchor in pos. 36° 18.78' N 035° 8.99' E near the accident site. Both zjr Harbour Master incident investigation desk and zjr Public Prosecutor have opened an incident investigation file. A surveyor panel from State authority, classification society and P&I Club will attend onboard. Reports with photos: https://www.haberler.com/kayip-olan-5-inci-balikcinin-cesedi-bulundu-13730087-haberi/ https://www.ekathimerini.com/259038/article/ekathimerini/news/turkish-fishing-boat-collides-with-greek-vessel-4-dead