The Turkish Coast Guard announced that a Russian intelligence gathering ship sank off the coast of Istanbul, on 27th April 2017, following collision with a Togo flagged livestock carrier.
The “Liman” ship of Russian Black Sea Fleet was approximately 17 nautical miles northwest of the northern entrance of Istanbul Strait, when Togo flagged livestock carrier “Youzarsif H” apparently hit her. According to Coast Guard, the Russian ship’s hull was found breached below the waterline. The accident happened at 08.41 UTC (11:41 local time). The damage to the Russian vessel caused its sinking at 11:48 UTC (14:48 local time).
There was limited visibility on the scene, due to fog. This part of the Black Sea is usually used as a staging area for the ships, as the wait for their turn to sail the Bosphorus, so there are usually many ships either adrift or sailing with very slow speed, the Turkish CG said.
All the 78 sailors on board are reported safe.
It is not yet identified how the accident happened, so further investigation is expected to commence.
