Coast Guard personnel set up a floating boom round the site of the shipwreck off northern Andros. [Handout/Hellenic Coast Guard]
Andros port officials have arrested the captain and watch officer of a Turkish-operated freighter that sank off the Aegean Sea island early Wednesday without loss of life, while authorities were focusing on pre-emptive action to prevent an oil spillage.
The Vanuatu-flagged Corsage C was heading from Croatia to Ukraine with 3,000 metric tons of soda on board when it struck rocks off northern Andros befora dawn and sank. It had a crew of eight Turks and one Azeri national, all who were reported in good health.
The 52-year-old captain and 32-year-old watch officer, both Turkish nationals, face charges including negligence that led to a shipwreck. The precise causes of the sinking are under investigation. The Coast Guard said weather conditions at the time of the accident were fair.
Authorities mounted a large operation to prevent environmental damage from the wreck of the Corsage C, which was carrying an unspecified quantity of fuel in its tanks.
Two specialized Coast Guard cleanup vessels were sent to the spot from the port of Rafina in eastern Attica, and a floating boom was set up around the sunken vessel to catch any fuel that should seep out before it could reach the shores of Andros or other nearby islands.
The Coast Guard said four patrol boats, three merchant ships in the area, a fishing boat and an airforce helicopter were initially sent to the scene of the shipwreck. Two of the ship’s crew were picked up in the sea, and the rest on land.
This story has been updated.