New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday confirmed that six Indians died in the shipping accident on Monday when two ships with Indian, Turkish and Libyan crew caught fire in the Kerch Strait that separates the Crimea from Russia. In a statement, the MEA said that four Indians had been rescued but six others were still missing.
“Russian Maritime Agency and Maritime Rescue and Coordination Centre Novorossiysk are continuing efforts to locate those listed as missing,” the MEA said.
The blaze from the accident, which killed 14 seafarers, was still raging on Wednesday when the Russian authorities resumed the search operation for 10 missing sailors.
One of the ships, the Candy, had a 17-member crew, including nine Turkish citizens and eight Indian nationals. The other one, Maestro, had 15-member crew, including seven Turkish nationals, seven Indian citizens and an intern from Libya, Russian news agency Tass quoted maritime authority as saying. Turkey's Milenyum Denizcilik Gemi company is believed to own both ships.
A senior DGS official had earlier told PTI that dozens of vessels are looking for survivors in the vicinity of the accident site--the Kerch Strait separating the Crimea from Russia--and wreckage is very scattered.
The Kerch Strait is a key waterway that holds strategic importance for both Russia and Ukraine. It is an economic lifeline for Ukraine that allows ships leaving the port city of Mariupol to access the Black Sea.
It is also the closest access point for Russia to the Crimea, a peninsula Moscow annexed in 2014. A Russian-built bridge over the Kerch Strait was opened last May.
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